The Hunter and the Hunted
by multifandomholic
Summary: Natalie Walker is a normal teenage girl, who kills vampires in her free time. But when she moves to a new city she learns about a whole new species of vampires. who can she really trust to help her defeat these monsters?  dont judge on the summary
1. Chapter 1

**its kind of a short chapter but the future ones will be longer, i just wanted to get this first chapter out there ;) LET ME KNOW IF YOU LIKE THIS AND I'LL CONTINUE WRITING IT!**

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><p>Chapter 1:<p>

It was dusk, and the cool autumn breeze blew my long brown hair in front of my face. I pushed the annoying strands of hair behind my ear and zipped up my leather jacket a little more. The leaves beneath my feet crunched quietly as I walked through the forest. I hated that we had to move here because I hate stalking those monsters in unfamiliar territory. I knew my parents were close by but I still felt alone.

We had to move to this small town in Michigan because of the recent outbreak of "animal attacks". Any human would be fooled by the illusion they create, but not me, I know what they are, and I know what they can do.

I felt my leg to check if my stake was still strapped to my leg. It was a nervous habit but it wasn't a bad thing to check.

My family and I hunt vampires for a living. My father is a "cop" that is moving here to "asses the situation", while my mother is a "vet" that is helping my father figure out what "animal" would attack humans. As for me, I'm just an innocent teenage girl that likes to stake monsters through the heart in her free time.

And there they were all grouped together, feeding on three or four female bodies. One was just standing above them all, watching. The vampire had black hair and his eyes were blazing red. His face was bloody like he had already fed. He was smaller than the rest of them; he was looked like we were about eighteen. He looked at me, and smiled, revealing his fangs. I took a deep breath and fiddled with my silver locket.

Another one, much bigger than the other one, looked at me with hungry-red eyes.

"You lost sweetheart?" he said. Typical. They always assumed I couldn't take them on. They didn't realize that I was a hunter. Of course they didn't know I have been training to fight vampires since I was six.

Just then my parents came from each side and started attacking. We always used me as a distraction, so the vamps didn't hear my parents coming, and then I would kill any stranglers.

The small one looked surprised and ran. I know I couldn't catch up with him but I chased him anyway. I ran all the way to an open field.

He could have taken any path… I lost his trail.

I was breathing heavily as I looked around for any indication of where he went. I turned around, and there he was, standing behind me.

"You caught me." he said playfully putting his hands up. Slowly I moved my hand down to where my stake was being held. His eyes followed my hand. "I wouldn't do that if I were you." He said.

Before he could run I threw the stake at him and it plunged directly through his heart. He dropped down to the ground and started gasping for air. I walked toward him so that I was standing directly over him.

His eyes returned back to his normal brown color and his fangs retracted. He looked human, except for the blood on his face. He knew he was dying, a stake didn't kill a vampire immediately. At first he wouldn't be able the move, then he would slowly starve to death or, if I felt nice, I could end it quickly and set him on fire.

Then unexpectedly he got up, with an immense amount of speed, pulled out the stake and pinned me to the ground. He held my wrists above my head with one hand. I struggled. It was no use; vampires are stronger. He now pointed the stake at my chest.

"You're not in Kansas anymore. You're tricks don't work here." His fangs popped out and he leaned in and they grazed my neck. _He is going to kill me._ I thought. Then he moved again and whispered. "Leave and never come back." Then with the same amount of speed as before, he ran away.

He left the stake lying on my chest. I took it and looked around cautiously, he was gone. And I was alone.

"The stake should have affected him…" I said quietly to myself. I held the bloody stake in my hand. Bewildered I ran back to where I last saw my parents.

All of the vampires were gone, and there was no sign of any victory on our side.

"Natalie, thank God, don't ever run away like that. You know better! You could have been killed." My mother lectured.

"I know, I'm sorry. But im fine… did you get any?"

"no, they were too fast," my dad said.

"and they took the girls with them." my mom said solemnly.

"it's ok. We'll get the next time." I told both of them. Then together we walked back to our hummer and drove to our new home.

Tomorrow we started our new lives, which meant I had to go to school. _Great._

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><p><strong>What do ya think? REVIEW PLEASE<strong>


	2. Chapter 2

**sorry, kind of short again :) ... hope you like it!**

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><p>Chapter 2:<p>

My annoying alarm clock beeped at me and I slapped it to make it shut off. It was 6AM, and it was time for me to get up and prepare for the _amazing_ day that waited for me.

I threw my legs over the side of my bed and stretched. I blinked a few times to clear my vision and walked down the hallway to the bathroom. I took off my oversized tee and stepped into the walk-in shower.

The warm water steamed all around my body, making me even more tired. Before I knew it, a half an hour went by and my mom yelled at me.

"Natalie! You are going to be late for your first day. Get out of the shower. Now!" The muffled voice told me. I rolled my eyes and shut off the water. Luckily for me it only took me 15 more minutes to get ready, and I was ready for school right on time.

The car ride was only 10 minutes but it felt like an eternity of dreading. I looked out the window and all I saw was trees rush by, which was much different from the hustle and bustle of New York, our last vampire hunting grounds. I put my head against the window and my father, who was driving, rubbed my shoulder.

"It'll be okay. You'll get through the day."

"I don't want to get through the day, I want to stay out of it and hunt those horrible things with you." I semi-yelled.

"We'll take care of them. Right now we just want you to have your childhood and be normal."

"But I don't want to be normal! I like to be a hunter! And im not a child anymore, I'm eighteen." This time I did yell. I hated that they treated like a child, I was just as powerful as them, and one day I will be more powerful.

"Just enjoy the day, it's only seven hours, most vampires don't come out in the daytime anyway." He tried to make the moment better by smiling; it didn't work. I got out of the car and turned back to him.

"Bye." I said and slammed the door.

I made my way through the crowded hallways being bumped and stared at like I was some freak that had NEW GIRL written across her forehead. The bell rang and everyone filed into his or her designated classrooms. As for me, I had no idea where I was going, I didn't have my schedule yet so I wandered to the office.

"Um, hi, I'm Natalie Walker. I'm new… I need my schedule." I asked the lady behind the desk. She finally stopped typing and up at me from behind her readers.

"Oh yes, Natalie, we've been expecting you. Here you are." She handed me a piece of paper and I read my classes: Chemistry II, Pre-Calc, English, Lunch, and Free Period, Spanish III, and Gym.

"Thanks. Um can you point me into the direction of the chemistry room." She continued typing and lifted her hand and pointed to the right.

"First classroom on the left."

"Thanks." I said very insincerely.

Eventually I shuffled my way to my first class. I peered through the glass window, and the teacher was already lecturing the students, who were all sitting at lab tables in the back of the classroom. As he looked around he notice me at the door and gestured for me to enter.

I took a deep breath. _Here we go._

"Class I would like to introduce our new student: Natalie Walker." I semi-waved at the class but kept my eyes down, I hate attention. "Everyone please get to work and make sure Natalie feels welcome." Everyone started talking again as I follow the teacher to his desk. He fiddled around with his attendance book. "All right Ms. Walker, we're doing a simple separation lab today, it's quite easy. Were you taking chemistry at your old school?" he looked up at me and I studied his features; he was young, about 30 years old and had chocolate brown hair. He was clean cut except for some stubble around his chin that lingered from the last time he shaved. He was cute, but I stopped the thought there, I am not the kind of girl that hooks up, or gets crushes on teachers. I realized I had waited a long time to answer his question, so I continued.

"Yeah, I only had time to get into the basics before I left, but I feel like im pretty caught up." I tried to sound convincing. The truth is I had all ready taught myself most of my classes, I had planned on graduating early so I could spend more time hunting, but my parents thought differently.

"Great! So I'll partner you up with Eric today, since he doesn't have a partner today... He is in the way back at lab table number three." He pointed. I followed his directions across the room and saw the boy standing there alone preparing his workstation. His black head of hair was all I could see. Then, as if he could hear the teacher and myself talking about him, he looked up at me and smiled.

It was _him_. The vampire I chased after in the woods. The vampire that had threatened me with my own stake. The vampire who, less than 24 hours ago, had blood splattered across his face was now my lab partner.

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><p><strong>SOOOO? what do you think? REVIEW PLEASE! i love hearing what you guys think :) <strong>

**(ps. i'll try and write the next chapter this weekend, i've just been busy with school and homework and such..)**


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3:

I cautiously walked over to the lab tables, only after the teacher, who I now know as Mr. Evans, gave me a little shove in the right direction. I positioned myself next to the vampire and grabbed a Bunsen burner from the cabinet. I kept my eyes on him the whole time. He just looked down at the lab packet as I set up everything else.

He tried to get the Bunsen burner starts by clicking the lighter. Nothing. So I cranked up the gas while he wasn't watching and the flame lit up instantly. He staggered back from the roaring flame and he looked at me with a WTF face. I smiled and tuned down the gas just enough to make the flame settle down.

"Careful. If you play with fire you may get burned." I said. He glared at me and then his face changed into a smile. His facial features were perfect, but everything about him screamed 'I'm a killer'.

"I think we got off on the wrong foot. Let's start over. I'm Eric." He held out his hand for me to shake. I just stared at it and laughed.

"No I don't think we did. I think we got off on exactly the right foot." I stared into his eyes. He just kept on smiling in amusement.

"OK. I get it. You're a hunter and I'm a vampire. We're enemies." He said in a perfectly normal volume, he didn't even try to whisper.

"Yeah for good reason; you kill people."

"Can't argue with that." He shrugged leaning on the table.

The boy at the lab table in front of us to turned around.

"Uh, what are you two talking about?" he laughed nervously. Eric glared at the boy, and the boy looked from me to him.

"Just stay out of it Tommy." Eric said sternly. Then Tommy shifted and turned back around, almost zombie-like, almost like Eric compelled the boy to turn around, but that's impossible. Vampires cant control a persons mind, that was just an unban legend hunters made up to scare humans. I studied him closer; he looked pleased with himself.

"What?" he asked. "I told you, you weren't in Kansas anymore." Before I could respond to him Mr. Evans interrupted the class, and turned the projector on.

The page he pulled up was from a local news website. The title said: LOCAL MURDER ESCAPES FROM PRISON. Next to the headline was a mug shot of a shaggy middle-aged man with dark hair and a mustache. The class started whispering nervously.

"I know, some of you are frightened, but they insisted the teachers tell EVERYONE to keep an eye out." Mr. Evans glanced at Eric. "There is a reward for the murderer, or any information of where he may be. But in the mean time, please stay safe!" He finished.

After that, no one talked anymore; we just worked. Of course I kept my eyes on Eric to make sure that he didn't try to pull anything, I figured he was smart enough not to do anything in public, but nothing was certain.

The bell rang and the students went back to their desks to gather their books and walk to their next class. I was going to follow Eric and question him more when a spunky blonde girl interlocked her elbow with mine, pulling me into the hallway. Eric stayed in the room with Mr. Evans and laughed at me.

"hey sorry to pull you away, but your next class is on the other side of the school and you can't dilly dally, or else you'll be late." She said. I stayed silent and confused. She laughed at me. "Sorry, how rude of me, I'm Kate, we basically have the same schedule and so I volunteered to help you out on your first day." She smiled. I tried to smile back, but I was unsuccessful. "Don't worry, we'll make you feel right at home here." She chauffeured me to our next class, Pre-Calculus. Once again, I had already taught myself the lessons so the rest of my day was bland.

Around lunchtime I saw Eric again, he was only in the lunchroom for a short time, so I decided to ask Kate and her friends, who made me sit with them, what they knew about him.

"Hey what to you guys know about Eric." I asked.

"Oh my god he is so hot!" One girl gushed.

"okay… but what do you know about him. Does he keep to himself or is he a man whore?"

"well he does keep to himself, he just lets girls come to him. I mean what high school guy _doesn't_ want to be with a girl?" Another blonde added.

"Anything else?" I asked.

"I don't know, he has kind of that bad boy vibe to him, it's hot." Kate said.

"yeah." I said. These girls weren't much help. I mean of course they weren't, they didn't know what he was. They didn't know what he could do.

The day came to an end much slower than I wanted it to, and I got into the car with my dad.

"So how was your first day?" he asked. I didn't make eye contact with him.

"I just need to go home and go hunting with you guys and take my anger out on someone." I don't know why I didn't mention that I saw Eric at my school, I guess I just didn't feel like talking.

My dad drove back to our house, which was strategically placed near the woods, and I got out quickly. My dad came around and grabbed my wrist.

"what is wrong with you?"

"Nothing." I lied. I took a deep breath and centered myself. "Did you get and leads on the clan we saw last night?"

"Yes. It looks we are living very close to their hunting grounds."

"Perfect." I said.

I threw my empty backpack on my bed and traded it for my bag of stakes and silver chains. I stuffed a gun with its special wooden and silver bullets into a holster near my pocket, just in case, and then I ventured off into the woods with my parents. The sun was just going down, which meant the vampires, would be coming out soon, because they would be hungry.

I walked through the forest and it was so cold I could see my breath. My parents and I had split up, like usual, so I was walking alone. Suddenly, I heard a man yell.

"Help!" he screamed. They were feeding, and I had to find the vampire before they killed the human. Any sane hunter wouldn't attack a vamp while they were feeding, since that is when they are at their strongest, but I ran anyway I didn't know where my feet were taking me until I saw the meadow. It was the same meadow where I had my first encounter with Eric and now I saw him again. I grabbed my gun, fully loaded, and made sure it was ready to fire.

"LET HIM GO!" I yelled and pointed the gun at him. Eric's back was towards me and then he dropped the man, and he flopped lifelessly to the ground. I couldn't see the man's face, but I didn't have to, to tell he was dead. I looked back at Eric and he slowly turned around with his hands up. Blood was dripping down his chin and down onto this shirt.

"You keep on catching up with me here. I like it." He smiled with his fangs. He tried to step closed to me.

"Don't move!" I yelled putting my finger on the trigger.

"Sorry, I don't mean to scare you, I'm a messy eater." His red eyes winked.

"Whatever. You're a killer. That's why I'm _tense_." I didn't want to admit to him that I was scared so I tried using a different word.

"Why do you hate me?"

"I told you; you're a killer. You kill innocent people. You're not just a killer, you a monster!"

"Am I?" he stepped closer to me and took control of my hand that was holding the gun so that there was no possible way for me to shoot him. "You know, not everyone is innocent." Then he ran away at vampire speed, and once again I was alone in the meadow.

I walked over to the man and rolled him over. His face looked familiar but I couldn't remember where I had seen him before. I crouched down and put two fingers up to his neck to check for a pulse; there was none.

Then I recognized him. _How could I not have recognized him!_ I saw his mug shot just earlier today.

He was the murderer that had escaped from prison that everyone was looking for.

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><p><strong>Ba Ba BUM! what is going to happen next! (only i know!) HEHE <strong>

**so i hope you guys still like the direction the story is going! PLEASE REVIEW and let me know ;D**

**i'll try to update soon**

**Thanks for reading! XOXO**


	4. Chapter 4

**so so sorry for the late update... my life has surprisingly been very busy lately... and sorry this is kind of a filler chapter :( but please let me know if you like it and REVIEW because whenever i get reviews it makes me want to write sooner ;)**

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><p>Chapter 4:<p>

I staggered back from the body. _Why did Eric kill the murderer that escaped from prison? _Was he just in the wrong place at the wrong time, or was this planned?

My head started throbbing.

"It doesn't change anything." I muttered to myself. "He's still a vampire." I continued walking and thinking about what happened when I ran into my parents. They looked disappointed too.

"Find anything?" My dad said.

"Not really, just a dead body. The vampire had already left… Hey did you guys hear about that murderer that escaped from prison?"

"Yeah, the whole station was buzzing about him. Why are you asking?" my dad asked.

"The body I found… it was him; the murderer."

"And a vampire killed him?" my mom intruded.

"Well he was a source of blood. Vampires will eat anyone, don't think anything of it Natalie." My dad informed me.

"Yeah, yeah. I know." I shrugged them off.

"I should call it in that the body has been found." My dad said taking out his cell phone.

"What about the other vamps? Did you find anything?" I asked my mom.

"No. They never showed. They must have known we were coming. We'll try again tomorrow. For now, all we can do is go home." She responded, putting her hand on my shoulder and guiding me back the car.

It was just about midnight on Friday night. Any other _normal_ teenage girl would be out with her friends. Any _normal_ girl wouldn't have to worry about vampires; all they had to worry about is what outfit they are going to wear on their date. Sometimes I wished that I could have a normal life, with normal friends, and never have to worry about the vampires. But I do. And I had one particular vampire on my mind. Eric.

He is so different. Any _regular_ vampire would have gobbled me up either of the times he trapped me. And any _regular_ vampire would never go to school, and leave everyone alive.

It looks like neither of us are very normal. I needed to talk to him.

I took it upon myself to try and figure out where he lives. With technology nowadays, it wasn't that difficult; just one click, enter, and Google Earth away, and I found it. He only lived about 10 minutes from here and his house was further into the woods than mine, obviously strategically placed.

Since my parents were sleeping I quietly got into the car and drove.

I slowly pulled up to the driveway and turned off the car. I looked at his house; it was amazing. It had three levels and was intricately decorated with stone on the outside. A wooden balcony overlooked the forest and there were giant glass windows. There were a few lights on in the huge house, which made me hesitant to continue, but I did anyway. I grabbed the loaded gun from the passenger seat, put it in its holster, got out of the car and walked down the long driveway to his house.

I peered through the window to see him, and another man whose back was facing me, drinking red liquid from a glass. The vampire was sitting in a bar stool and Eric was leaning on the counter. They were deep in conversation, which must be why they hadn't noticed me yet.

I continued to walk to the giant wooden doors and knocked. After a few moments Eric opened the door.

"Natalie? What are you doing? How did you—"

"can I come in?" I interrupted, ignoring his questions. He looked back at the man who was seated at the bar, as if to look for approval.

"um… yeah?" he opened the door a little bit wider. I stepped in cautiously.

"Thank you." I said directly to Eric. I heard the other vampire get up from his seat and walk over to us, but I kept my eyes on Eric.

"So… why are you here?" he asked.

"I need answers: about you. And no more of those stupid riddles you keep leaving me with. I need straight up answers, and no funny business." I gestured toward the gun. Eric seemed amused.

"Come on, you know that won't kill me."

"Yeah, but it will hurt you long enough for me to get back in my car and drive the hell away from here." All Eric did was laugh.

"True." He looked at the other vampire that was standing next to him now, which made me look at him too. To my surprise it was the one person that I thought I could trust: Mr. Evans.

"Natalie, please, we're not like that. You don't need to use that gun against us." Mr. Evans said chuckling a little.

"And why should I trust you?"

"Because you're still alive." Eric stated. "I have had plenty of chances to kill you, but I never did. And deep down, don't you trust me? I mean, you came here, in _my territory, _and the only thing you arm yourself with is a flimsy gun?"

"with wooden bullets…" I defended.

"Whatever. Say what you want, but you know that I'm different. You can tell with your little hunter instincts that I am powerful, more powerful that any other vamp out there. You know that I can kill without even thinking twice about it, but I bet _you_ don't even think twice that I can be civil; that I can be human." he finished. He looked furious and calm all at the same time. I didn't know what to say. I knew he was different but I couldn't say anything.

"I-I…" I stuttered. Then I took a deep breath and cleared my head. "How exactly are you different?" I asked. He looked at me and smiled.

"Oh, so you don't know? Well, I guess this is a perfect time to tell you since, Anthony and I were just talking about our next move: getting you involved." Eric closed the door behind me, closing me off from the outside world. From freedom.

I couldn't help but wonder if he was telling the truth: is he really different? Can he be, and want to be, human. I guess I would have to wait and see because as of tonight, I was in vampire territory, I didn't have a choice, I had to agree with everything they said to me or else it may be the last thing I ever do.


	5. Chapter 5

**hope you like this one :) let me know!**

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><p>Chapter 5:<p>

After walking a small flight of stairs I cautiously made my way over to the counter where I previously saw Eric and… Anthony. I hesitated over his name because I was so used to calling him _Mr._ Evans. They both took their spots from before; I on the other hand, stood awkwardly next to Eric as he took a sip of the blood in his cup.

"Want anything to drink?" Eric chuckled, holding up his glass. He must have felt me tense up so he added, "Relax, I'm just joking… but seriously water is right there." He pointed at the silver faucet on the counter across from the island.

"I'm fine."

"Good. So let's catch you up to speed. I'm normal. Well a normal vampire, sort of. But that's not what's important; what is, is that Eric isn't. Neither are those other vampires you and your parents are hunting, you need to stay away from them; they're dangerous." Anthony said.

"Like _hell_ I'll stay away from them, but unfortunately those _things _are monsters, my parents and I need to destroy them."

"You can't" Eric butted in.

"Watch me."

"No. You don't understand. You. Can't. Kill. Them. It's next to impossible… which Is where you come into play."

"Woah, woah, woah. Back up. What do you mean they can't be killed? Everything can be killed, even vampires. That's why fire, stakes, and silver, come in handy."

"That's where you're wrong." Anthony started. "We told you these vampires are different. They can't be killed with anything that exists, but they can be killed with something that hasn't been invented yet."

"What?" I asked. "You lost me."

"These vampires, and myself, are old. As in the oldest of the old. Our bodies have adapted in a way that makes us completely immortal. Over our whole lives things like silver and wolfs bane have become tolerable for us. As for the other vampires, like Anthony, these things are still harmful to them because they haven't had nearly as long to adapt like we have." Eric finished. All of this was such new information to me. As a hunter I learned that everything can be killed, someway, somehow, and the fact that vampires can actually acclimatize to elements that used to injure them.

That sparked something inside of me to remember what Eric said about wolfs bane. _Wolfs bane? As in werewolves?_ Werewolves don't exist do they? "Wait what did you say about wolfs bane? Isn't that a werewolf thing?" Eric and Anthony laughed at me.

"Werewolves are a made up being vampires came up with to hide their trail. So whenever you hear a weakness for them, it really means a weakness for vampires." Anthony informed me.

"Hmm." I smiled, putting a mental note in my head to grab a few leaves for future fights with vamps.

"But don't waste your time. Wolfs bane is generally mild now, but centuries ago the gene makeup was much more potent in poison, so all it will do is momentarily disorientate a vampire."

"But when it could be used, it was lethal to any vampire that came in contact with it. It can cause burns on the skin and if ingested it can cause vomiting, which for a vampire is bad since we would be vomiting nothing but blood."

"So why is that important?"

"Well, if we can find a new generation of wolfs bane, one that is more potent than the current generation, and one that my kind hasn't come into contact with ever before, it becomes lethal again. _Comprede_? Eric tells me.

"Yeah I think so. But how do we do it?" I ask.

"Well we have a chemist that has majored in botany for over 100 years, and _you_."

"Me! I don't know anything!" I rambled. Anthony laughed.

"You're outstanding in all subjects, especially science." I gave him a question mark look. He laughed again. "When you're a teacher, grades are hard to hide, past and present. I looked at you transcript and you had all A's. You are of great use to us."

"Okay… but _why_ do you want to kill these other super vampires? Shouldn't they be like your gods or something? They have probably killed millions of people in their life time." I asked.

"Exactly that. They have killed countless numbers of people, with no consequences, and they don't see humans as equals, and they never will, which is why they need to be stopped. We think differently than them. We know that there are other options than killing innocent people." Once again Eric held up his glass o' blood.

"But the first day I saw you in the woods you were with them, covered in blood." I stated.

"That's because they still think I'm fighting with them. Part of their killing cult. And as for the blood, it was deer… or puma… I don't remember, but the vamps didn't even notice because their heads were so buzzed from the kill that they didn't even notice."

"So it's all been a show?"

"Correct."

I had time to think now. I can't believe what I was hearing, the whole 'completely immortal' thing was just so crazy. I knew that what Eric and Anthony was the truth because I have experienced first hand: when Eric lived through my staking.

"Hey Eric?"

"Yeah" he said.

"if your body can defend itself against things like silver and wolfs bane, what about the physical stuff like the stakes."

"I'm stronger, i'm faster, and I heal faster. Stakes kill vampires because we don't heal fast enough to save ourselves even after the stake had been removed, but vampires like Eric, that heal incredibly fast, can survive the stake wound." Anthony informed me.

"We're basically like superman." Eric said smugly. "And all we need to do is find our kryptonite."

"Which involves me now…"

"Which involves you." Eric reassured me.

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><p><strong>SOOOO? REVEIW PLEASE! the more reviews i get the sooner i write :) it gives me motivation :D<strong>


	6. Chapter 6

**sorry for the late update... ENJOY!**

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><p>Chapter 6:<p>

It had been a few weeks since I had started working with Eric and Anthony and I have to admit they were growing on me. At first I didn't know whether or not I could trust them, because after all they are vampires, but they proved themselves to me. Being around them so often almost made me forget that they were bloodsuckers. Almost.

I sat in my Chemistry class and tapped my pencil on my notebook trying to figure out this wolfs bane thing. Mr. Evans, as I had to call him in class, was blabbing on about photons and electrons, but I wasn't listening.

I looked over my shoulder to find Eric staring at me; he quickly looked back at his paper and pretended to take notes. This made me smile.

Since we've starting working together, my trust has built up for him. He and I have spent late nights studying how to create a super plant that will kill the super vampires, and we haven't gotten very far. Mostly it's a lot of waiting for the plants to grow, followed by testing that showed very little results.

The bell interrupted my thoughts about how Eric isn't such a bad guy and I started clearing my desk.

"Don't forget about homework that's due tomorrow!" Mr. Evans called to the class as they left the room. Eric and I were the only two that stayed.

"Anything yet?" I asked.

"Actually, I think we finally may have something. In this generation of wolfs bane there were high levels of tincture, which is its natural toxin." Mr. Evans said intellectually.

"You think this is actually going to work this time?" Eric asked.

"It should. I couldn't stay in the lab that long because I kept on getting sick. You won't get that immediate effect because of your situation." Mr. Evans informed.

"Then let's try it tonight." Eric confirmed.

"Are you sure?" I asked. I honestly was worried about Eric, the only way to test if the wolfs bane worked was for Eric to test it himself. If it burned his skin, it was working. When he ingested it, and he throws up, it was working. Of course, we were only doing this in small amounts so it wouldn't kill him, but it was still scary.

"I'm the only test we have." He said.

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><p>After school that day I followed Eric to Anthony's house to do our tests, well, their tests. Eric got out of his car and I followed him as he walked toward the house. Inside, we found Anthony waiting for us.<p>

"Ready." He asked.

Eric sighed. "Yeah." I took his hand and squeezed it. He looked down at me in amazement. I can understand why because up until now I have tried my best not to show how much I actually do care about him. I winked back at me and he squeezed his hand back.

We walked down a flight of stairs down to the lab. It was room that was once used for chemicals and experiments that was now being used to grow plants. The plants that were out in the open must have been harmless because neither Eric nor Anthony seemed to be effected by them. These plants were our failed attempts.

That's when Anthony stopped at a clear glass container that held about 10 tiny wolfs bane plants. I watched Anthony hold his breath as he started to open to the door, and as soon as he lifted it, he let out a disgusted breath.

"_Phew._ Here it is." Anthony made a disgusted face. "Natalie, will you do the honors?" he gestured at the plants. I had to work with the plant itself because it could potentially harm either one of them, but here I am, ready to harm Eric, so we can kill the bad guys.

I tried to stall as long as I could, but eventually had to do it.

I placed the leaves gently on his skin and immediately I heard sizzling. At first he only winced at the pain, but quickly he started screaming. I couldn't stand it any longer and I pulled it away, which revealed the nasty burn it left on his skin.

His arm now had what looked like third degree burns. There were multiple blisters and his arm was red around the blisters, but suddenly the burn started disappearing, and within seconds his arm was back to normal.

"And just so we know it works…" Anthony grabbed a plant from the other growing areas, and this time I didn't need to help him. He placed it on the same spot that I placed the previous wolfs bane. After a few moments he lifted it away, there was no indication of burning. "That's a good sign." Eric nodded in approval. "Ready for the next test?" Eric nodded again. "I prepared this vial before school." Anthony held up a tiny vial about an inch long between his fingers. It was only half full. He uncorked it.

"Cheers." Eric held up the vial and dumped it into his mouth in one fluid motion.

Immediately he started coughing. His coughing turned into gagging, then into dry heaving. Then he starting throwing up. Throwing up blood. Anthony sped away and returned with a bucket to catch the remaining blood.

"Natalie, in the refrigerator there are packets of blood. Grab a few; he'll need them as soon as he's done." He put a supportive hand on Eric's back.

When I returned Eric spit the remaining blood into the bucket and looked up at me. His face was so pale it almost seemed translucent and dark circled had formed under his eyes.

"Here," I handed him a bag. "This will help." He didn't need any more convincing, he grabbed the bag from my hand and ripped it open with his teeth. He sucked on it until the bag was flat like a juice box and he held out his hand for another one. This time he drank it much slower.

"How much was that?" he asked breathlessly.

"About 1 milliliter. We can eject about 15 milliliters into a human without it being detected. That will be plenty." He laughed looking at the bucket of blood.

"Yeah." Eric tried to laugh.

"So how are we going to get the wolfs bane inside of them. I mean, we can't just go up to them and say 'hey drink this' and give them a vial…" I finished. They both looked at me. "What?" I said.

"They need to drink it from a human." Anthony said.

"but they will kill them!" I tried not to scream.

"Unfortunately, yes, but just think about how many lives you are saving in the long run." Anthony informed me.

"Yeah, I guess. But where are you going to get the donors?" I asked.

"There's a bar about 5 blocks from here where vampires go and get humans. We will inject the humans with wolfs bane and I'll deliver them." Eric said. His warm brown eyes looked sad, he knew killing innocent humans was bad, but we had to do it.

"Okay."

"The earliest I can get them is by the end of the week." Eric said looking at his phone for dates.

"Sounds good." Anthony said.

Eric walked me out of Anthony's house and chauffeured me to my car, opening the door for me.

"Are you sure you are going to be all right? I can come to your house and—"

"Natalie, I heal fast. I'm fine." He smiled.

"I know but you looked _really_ bad."

"…But, I'm fine now. Really." He flexed his arms. "Good as new." I couldn't help but laugh.

"Okay, okay. Let's just hope it works on the others."

"I don't really want to talk about them right now." Eric whispered as he leaned into me. Then, without warning, he kissed me. His lips were ice cold, but mine weren't much warmer in the cool autumn night. He pulled away from me just enough so he could talk. I didn't here what he said, I was just thinking about what just happened. Then something snapped me out of it. His breath. His breath smelled like blood. He's a vampire, and I'm a vampire hunter. We can never be together. Ever.

"Um- I—" I fiddled around for the car door handle. "I have to go." I got inside the car. Started it and drove off. The last thing I saw was Eric standing in the middle of the driveway in my rearview mirror.

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><p><strong>SOOOOO? What do you think? REVIEW PLEASE!<strong>

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	7. Chapter 7

**hey guys! PLEASE review and let me know if you like the story, i haven't gotten much feedback so i need to know if the story is worth continuing... **

**i hope you like this chapter ENJOY**

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><p>Chapter 7:<p>

I thought I was driving home when I was in my car, but my heart took me somewhere else. The woods. It was the only place I felt entirely myself and entirely terrified at the same time.

It didn't take a long time for me to find a suitable tree for me to sit against to watch the sunset. The colors were hidden behind the numerous leaves that made up the forest's canopy, but the orange sky still peaked through. Everything seemed to be at peace, which was exactly the opposite of how I felt. _Why __does __he __make __me __feel __like __this!_ I wanted to scream. I put my head into my knees, sat against the tree and thought about Eric. He kissed me, and I… liked it?

"No!" I said shaking my head. "He's a vampire!" I shouted. "I can't like him." I touched my lips; I could still feel the cold chill he left lingering upon them. I closed my eyes as my vision blurred and one warm teardrop fell down my cheek.

"He's a monster." I whispered. He even admitted it to me once when we had been working in the lab in Anthony's basement.

"So what's your count?" he asked me playfully.

"What are you talking about?" I kept my eyes down as I continued to play with the chemicals.

"You know, your body count. How many vamps have you killed?" he leaned on his elbows and his face was now within inches from my face. This made me feel very uncomfortable and I tensed up.

"Umm. I never really kept track. Why?" I asked, suddenly defensive.

"Just curious." He smiled. "I need to know if you are a threat to me or not." This time he winked and continued to work. _What __was __that __all __about?_ He asked me what my number was and then just kept working like nothing was wrong? No. He is not getting off that easy.

"So what's yours?" I asked.

"Hm?" he looked up confused.

"Your _count_." I mimicked his curious, playful tone. He looked down and stopped what he was doing. There was a long pause before he started talking.

"3683. But if you count the murderer it's 3684." He said flatly as he went back to working. No smile. No wink. No indication of sarcasm in his voice.

"Wha- you're joking right?"

"No. But if you consider how long I have been alive, it is not a large number."

"You kept count?"

"Yeah. You wanna know their names to?" he said sadly.

"No. No thanks." I said. _He knows every one's names? _After that I didn't bring it up again, he didn't want to either, I could tell.

Even though I have basically spent my whole life learning about the destruction vampire's cause, there was something that happened recently that made me forget Eric was a killer. Whenever I was around him we laughed, we told stories and just acted like normal teenagers. To me he was just another guy.

My mixed emotions for Eric made my head feel like it was going to explode. I let myself fall to my side on a soft pile of moss, and as I wept I fell into a deep sleep.

As soon as I woke up I instantly forgot what I was dreaming about, although something lingered in my mind that made me think the dream wasn't pleasant. That must be why I woke up so suddenly. I looked at my phone and squinted at the bright screen. 3AM. I guess I should go home.

I slammed the door shut, but then suddenly cringed because my parents were probably asleep. Gently, I placed my car keys on the counter and walked as silently as I could into the kitchen and grabbed some orange juice from the refrigerator and I noticed a note stuck to the door.

_Gone Hunting. Be back in the morning._

It wasn't unusual that my parents went hunting all night long, since that is the prime time to catch vamps, and it wasn't unusual that they left me behind. _"__It__'__s __too __dangerous.__"_ My mom would say. _"__We __don__'__t __want __you __to __get __hurt.__"_

"Yeah bullshit, you guys know I'm a good hunter." I said to the darkness. I admit, they do want me safe, but the real reason they left me behind is because they know something that I don't. They have some sort of information they want to keep from me. Boy were they going to get a huge lecture from me tomorrow!

I yawned for what seemed like an eternity and dragged myself to bed. I threw off my outer shell of clothing and was left in my under garments, so I put on an old baggy tee and slipped underneath the covers. It took about one point two seconds for me to fall asleep.

. . .

My alarm buzzed and I groggily rolled over and slammed it off. I looked at my phone. No new messages. None from my parents. None from Eric. I sighed, got dressed and walked to the kitchen for breakfast.

Something was wrong. No one was home. Everything was exactly where I left it; my keys, my shoes, which were sprawled across the mudroom, and even the refrigerator door was still cracked open from my late night orange juice craving. There was no evidence that my parents ever came home. Naturally, I thought the worst had happened; they were killed, but my phone vibrating interrupted my thoughts.

_Sorry. Got a little lost. See you after school. _

Yeah. There are not getting off that easy. We were definitely having a talk about their curfew when I get home.

. . .

The first bell rang and all of the students took their seats as Mr. Evans introduced us our lesson plans for the day, which consisted of independent study. I looked over my shoulder to see if Eric wanted to work with me, even if it was _independent_. Okay, actually I wanted to talk about the kiss, not chemistry, but the kiss was chemistry. Wasn't it?

To my surprise all I saw was an empty chair. No Eric.

I saw Mr. Evans doing his rounds so I raised my hand and he came over to me.

"Yes?" he said very teacher-like.

"Have you seen Eric since last night?" I said in a hushed tone.

"No. He left with you didn't he?"

"Well, we left at the same time…"

"It's very possible that he could still be experiencing side effects from the wolfs bane. He probably took they day off to recover."

"Okay… but I thought all he needed was blood? Didn't that fix him?" as soon as I asked the question, something flashed across Anthony's face. He looked around to make sure people weren't listening to us.

"That's one of the reasons why Eric's kind is different. If they are hurt badly enough, blood doesn't necessarily satisfy them."

"Okay." I said, trying to figure out what he was trying to tell me.

"Eric's kind not only needs blood; they need to kill."

"Eric's killing someone right now!" I said in my loudest whisper.

"Shhh." Anthony tried to calm me down. "No. He is not. He found an alternative: animals. He uses animals to control his need to kill instead of humans, but there has to be somewhat of a fight or else his body doesn't register the kill."

"So what does that mean?"

"It means that he usually travels up north, or to Canada for bears, mountain lions, moose or wolves. Any of those make for an interesting hunt. So what I am saying is that sometimes he takes a few days off to release this urge."

"To kill." I said.

"Yes, that is why it is gravely important for us to complete this task of killing the rest of his kind, because if we fail, and they survive, they will have no mercy on this town."


	8. Chapter 8

**Hope you like this chapter... please review and let me know people are still liking this story!**

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><p>Chapter 8:<p>

"Well no pressure there." I told Anthony. "So you're basically saying that if we don't kill these vamps, they will go crazy and kill everyone because they _need_to kill."

"Yes, that sums it up quite nicely." He nodded his head.

"Well shit."

"Natalie! Not in the classroom." He stood up and winked at me. Sometimes we both forgot we had an image to obtain. He was my teacher and I was the student. We weren't supposed to be buds. Not to mention he's a vampire, and I am a vampire hunter. We're not supposed to be friends either.

My life had been completely flipped around since I moved to Michigan. I was a not only friends with two vampires, but I helped them as well. If my past self knew about this she would probably come and kick my butt.

Speaking of kicking butt, I still have to talk to my parents about what is going on with them. Ever since we moved here they have been secretive and avoiding me whenever possible, telling me we had to hunt separately.

Did they know about how there are different vampires here? Were they hunting them separately and trying to keep a secret, which I already knew about, from me?

"Hey are you okay?" a perky voice jolted me back to reality.

"Oh, Kate! Geez you scared the crap out of me." I put my hand over my pounding heart.

"Oh sorry. You just looked confused, and flustered, and, well, scared." She said setting her books down on the desk next to mine.

"Well that makes sense since I was thinking." I left the sentence hanging in the air between us.

"Thinking about what?" she asked.

"Oh you know, stuff…" I tried to be as vague as possible. I wasn't exactly a people person when it came to people like Kate. She had bright blonde hair, and unnaturally white teeth. You could clearly see the layer of makeup she put on every day to cover up her already flawless skin, and the black around her eyes seemed to make her deep blue eyes pop.

"What kind of stuff?" she urged. Seriously? This girl is like a freaking Labrador retriever. "Oh wait! I know what it is." She waggled her perfectly maintained eyebrows. "You're thinking about Eric, aren't you?"

I instantly felt my cheeks begin to flush. Then Kate began to study me like a fine work of art. "You know, you're pretty, but with my help, Eric will practically be drooling whenever he sees you." She smiled.

"I think that already happens." I said and from my seat I heard Anthony chuckle.

"Let me know if you need me." she winked.

. . .

I was sitting at the kitchen table, doing my homework when my parents finally stumbled in.

"Where have you two been?" I stood up with my hands on my hips. They were both rushing around, grabbing weapons we had stashed all over the house.

"I'm sorry sweetie." My mom said as she loaded a shotgun with wooden bullets.

"Yeah we lost track of time." My dad said as he was preparing some kind of concoction at the counter. "But we _did_text you."

"Yeah you _texted_me. That could have been anyone; you know how worried I've been? You could have at least called." I bluffed. I didn't care so much about their safety; I know they can take care of themselves. What I did care about was what they were hiding from me, and why they were in so much of a rush.

"We're sorry Nat. You can come with us next time." My mom kissed me on the cheek and followed my father back out to the suburban.

"What about this time? Can't I come now?" I said from the doorway.

"Sorry hun, you can't, and besides you have homework to do. Be a good student, okay. We love you!" My mom said as they pulled out of the driveway.

The best thing about being a hunter was being able to track people down, of course using the GPS in their car was handy as well.

I grabbed the remaining stash of bullets and tied the ammo to my belt along with my gun, opened the garage door, and went out in search for my parents.

Their car was parked at a local nature trail site, any on looker would think my parents are just walking the trail, but people are fooled too easily. This particular trail was about 15 minutes away from any civilization, and was all forest.

I parked my car next to theirs and got out. The night had chilled down and I heard a thunder clap in the distance. Strange. My parents usually check the weather before they go out because they do not like to hunt in the rain, since it impairs your sight and hearing. Not to mention you get a nasty cold if you're out too long. I zipped up my jacked and followed the trail out.

Although nighttime was falling fast, my vision wasn't impaired too much. Over the years my body has adapted to the low lighting, but I can't see perfectly, which is why I had to walk with extra caution.

For a moment I thought I heard a voice, but it was quickly replaced by the clap of thunder that reminded me the storm would hit any second. I tried to walk in the direction of where I heard the voice coming from but the darkness around me made it difficult to have any sense of direction.

Suddenly I could see a light. This wasn't just a flashlight, but something more like worker lights shining on something. Now that I listened harder I could hear the faint hum of a generator. I stalked closer, and closer as silently as I could be, when I hear my father's voice.

"Just tell us where the others are, and we may just let you live." He sounded threatening and demanding, he only used this tone when he spoke with vampires. There was a pause like he was waiting for someone to respond, but there was only silence, which was quickly replaced by a scream.

Using the volume of the scream to my advantage, I scurried closer to the site my parents had set up, and hid behind the trees.

I could see the array of guns, knives and rope that were sprawled across the forest floor. Some were covered in blood; some were not. This made me look at my parents, they were no longer clean or tidy like I had seen them earlier today, they were now bruised and bloody like they had been caught in a fight.

My mother had a jagged gash across her upper arm and a few other bruises here and there, but it was nothing compared to me father. He had several minor cuts varying across his body, which could have been from a scuffle while he was on the ground, but what really grabbed my attention was his neck. It had been bit. It wasn't a bite a vampire would normally take, leaving two clean puncture wounds; my father's neck looked like a portion of it had been ripped away. It surprised me how little he was bleeding for such a horrible injury. He did look wobbly though, most likely from the loss of blood.

"Fine. I will give you one. More. Try. Where are the others hiding?" my dad asked. I tried to look at who he was talking to, but my father's muscular build was blocking my view.

"I…told…you—" the vampire coughed out. From the way he sounded, it seemed as if a lot of damage had been done.

My father pulled a knife out of his pocket and poured the mix he had made earlier onto it, making sure he covered the knife entirely.

"No—" the vampire barely pleaded. That's when my father walked forward, giving me full view of the vampire, and plunged a knife directly through Eric's heart.

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><p><strong>okay... if you're smart.. you might have saw that coming.. or maybe not... PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE let me know what you think. REVIEW! i haven't gotten many reviews lately and i'm starting to wonder if i should stop writing this... so if you want to save the story REVIEW PLEASE!<strong>

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	9. Chapter 9

**so i was really mean by ending this chapter this way... muahaha ENJOY ;)**

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><p>Chapter 9:<p>

"No!" I whispered. I didn't want my parents knowing I was here, but I needed to help Eric; my parents are killing him.

There was another sound of thunder as my father pulled the knife out of Eric's chest. I now noticed the blade. Not only was it sharp in one direction, but also the knife was cut in a way that it made more damage when it came out than when it went in; like shark's teeth. Eric writhed and screamed in pain. If he wasn't tied up against the tree I swear he would have fallen to the ground.

My mother took him by the chin and forced him to look into her eyes.

"Where are they? We know you're lying, so tell us where they are and we'll go easy on you." She seethed. Eric kept his ground, and I heard him growl, but it was quickly replaced by coughing and spitting up blood. My mom chuckled, took the bottle from my father and dipped her finger in the mixture. "I guess we are doing this the hard way then." She then proceeded to run her fingers across Eric's cheek, leaving burn marks on his skin from the path of her fingers. "Such a pretty face. It's too bad we have to ruin it." Eric struggled from the pain she was causing him.

Realization hit me quickly. _This __is __the __same __reaction __he __had __to __wolfs __bane._ But that's not possible, my parents couldn't have known about it, could they? That was the only thing that could harm him and now they know about it. I needed to help Eric, and I wanted to help him, but how do I do that without having my parents know I'm on his side?

I watched the grotesque scene some more. My father was now taking a different knife and cutting main artery points. Eric's neck, wrists, legs and inner elbows were now bleeding.

"Anything you want to tell us now?" My father said. When Eric looked up at my dad, he was no longer the sweet kid I think of him as. He was furious, vengeful, and hungry. His eyes were deep red and his fangs were showing; the tell tale sign of hunger from a vampire.

Eric choked out some words but I couldn't tell what he said. He tried again, but they were still indistinct.

I looked around me to try and find something, anything that would help him. I crawled around, moving my hands around the forest floor and I came in contact with a bag. It wasn't mine, but my parent's; I've seen them bring it with them before. Inside I found a taser gun; they've used it before against vampires with little to no luck, now I have to use it on them. It was the only way I could stop them from hurting Eric, but still keep them alive.

"Spit it out pretty boy!" my father said threatening Eric's heart with a knife again. Eric tried harder.

"One oh seven thirty two…" he breathed out.

"What? Come on, speak clearly." My dad shot Eric in the leg and he cried out in pain.

"One oh seven thirty two Wilson Drive… they hide there sometimes… that's the only place I know."

"They are hiding there now?" my dad reloaded.

"I don't know, they are rarely there, but you can start there." Eric struggled to speak.

My dad began to move like he was going to hurt Eric again, so I pointed the taser and shot. He convulsed for a second and then dropped to the ground. My mother now stood defensively, looking into the woods for the attacker, but thanks to the trees, she couldn't see me. I shot her to and she fell to the ground. Now that they were both momentarily knocked out, I ran to Eric.

His eyes were shut and he was barely breathing. I began to untie the ropes that had bound him to the tree. His body flopped lifelessly forward and I tried to catch him but we both ended up hitting the ground.

I rolled him off of me and he moaned as I started tending to his wounds.

"That's a good sign. That means you're alive." I reassured both Eric and myself. He attempted a smile and his eye flickered open. They were still red; he began to cough and then passed out. I fluttered my hands over him, trying to think of something I could do now that he was free. Every second I wasted; Eric was getting closer to death.

I reached for my bag to grab my phone and I dialed Anthony's number.

"Hello?"

"Anthony! It's bad. I need you here now!"

"Wait, hold on, what's going on?"

"It's Eric, he was attacked with wolfs bane. I don't know wh—"

"Natalie calm down, text me where you are and I'll be there." He said. I texted him my exact coordinates- thanks to my wonderful technology- and Anthony was here in a matter of seconds.

"I don't know what to do! My parents were killing him… is he going to be okay?" I babbled.

"He should be, you saved him just in time, but I will take him back to my house and watch him there." Anthony said looking at my parents. "They won't be out long, you need to take them home." He pulled out two syringes for him pocket.

"What is that?" I asked nervously as he injected it into my parents.

"A mellow narcotic, it will make them sleep longer and hopefully blur their minds so they do not remember what happened here."

"You don't need to drug them."

"Do you want them to remember this? Eric's face? What if they know you're working with us? They won't hesitate to kill you too." He said.

"I guess not…"

"Besides, this is the only option we have right now that will make them forget, until Eric becomes strong enough. When he does he can fully erase their memories."

"So he can control people's minds…"

"Yes, but not if he's like this. He needs blood." Anthony informed me. I nodded. "Take care of your parents and when they are settled you can come back to my house."

"Ok." I said quietly.

Anthony helped me carry my parents to the car and he took Eric in his car. Before I could even start the car I started crying. As I cried, it rained and I drove myself home.

. . .

I knocked on the door and Anthony opened it.

"Is he okay?" I asked.

"He will be he just needs time and blood." He led me into the living room that was empty except for Eric who was lying on the couch with his eyes closed. He had a blood transfusion hooked up to his arm and the blood bag was half empty. "He's gone through four already. I need to run to the hospital and grab more. You don't mind watching him for a while do you?"

"No, that's fine, go ahead." I smiled as he left and sat on the couch that was facing Eric.

He tousled on the couch and his brown eyes flickered open again. I kneeled next to him and he looked confused.

"What happened?" his hands tried to unhook the needle from his arm that was giving him blood.

"Hey don't do that, you need blood."

"Why? What happened?"

"My parents almost killed you. That's why you need blood." I put his arms at his side to try and relax him.

"oh… I need blood…" he repeated my words.

"Yes. Anthony just left to get some more, you should rest."

"I-I-I need blood." He sounded a little panicked.

"Yeah I know. Anthony will be here soon." I reassured him. He looked around the room.

"I don't want that! I want fresh blood. I want to kill." He looked me in the eyes and pulled the tube from his arm. Before I knew it he was pinning me down threatening my life with his fangs; just like the fist night I saw him. Only this time he wasn't playing. With no hesitation he bit down on my neck and I screamed.

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><p><strong>HEHE! great cliff hanger right? i promise i'll write soon because i have school off for the holidays... <strong>

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	10. Chapter 10

**kinda short... ENJOY :) and it any of you haven't checked out my profile, make sure you go and look at my "models" for Eric and Natalie :D**

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><p>Chapter 10:<p>

I woke up on the couch and immediately reached for my throat. I was breathing in short panicky breaths, but nothing was wrong. My neck was perfectly intact. No bite marks. It was a dream; I must have fallen asleep on the couch.

I laughed at myself then wiped my sweaty forehead with the back of my hand when I heard Eric toss and turn. _Great, __now __I__'__m __having __déjà __vu_. I thought and quietly I crawled over to the side of the couch where Eric was laying and pushed his black hair off of his face.

"Your hands are so warm." He said, startling me a little.

"Yeah? Well, maybe you're just really cold." I said. He laughed as much as he could without making himself cough and opened his eyes. His _brown_eyes.

Eric immediately noticed the tube that was connected to his arm. He seemed a little confused and inspected it. Instinctively, I took his arms and pushed them down at his side. "Don't do that." I said, trying not to have my dream become reality.

"Why? What happened?"

"You don't remember?" I asked. He shook his head.

"Not really, it's all a blur." He paused for a long time. "It was bad wasn't it?"

"Yeah, all I know is that _my __parents_ did this to you_,_and somehow they knew they had to use wolfs bane on you. They cut you, and tortured you so they could get information about some people."

"They wanted to know about the other vamps, like me, right?" he squinted as he thought, like it was hard for him to remember.

"I think so."

"What did I tell them?"

"Some address, but it doesn't matter because you can zap all of this from their brains, right?"

"Not right now. Not while I'm in this condition." He gestured at the blood that was being fed into his arm.

"Well hurry up and get better because I don't want them knowing anything; about you, about the others… I just don't want them involved anymore."

"You care about them, don't you?"

"Of course, they're my parents, but they almost killed you, which makes me question my loyalty to them."

"You care about me?" he asked softly.

"Yeah." I told him and suddenly, with out warning, I felt a warm tear fall down my cheek. "I thought you were gone. I-I just never thought it was possible you would leave, and when you almost did—"

"Hey it's okay." He wiped the tear away with his abnormally, even for him, cold hands. "I'm still here. Like I said, I'm hard to kill." He smiled. His face reminded me of every reason why I like him so much. He was so human, yet so vampire, all at the same time, not to mention extremely cute.

He leaned over on the couch was inches away from my face. Then he shifted and fell away, so instead, I gripped his neck and pulled him to my lips. Once again, the heat from my lips contrasted with his cold ones but this time he was the one to pull away.

"But you're also hard to please." I said, breaking the awkward silence. I immediately regretted saying it because the second I looked at Eric I saw the huge cocky grin that was now plastered on his face.

He chuckled. "What?"

"That's not what I mean!" I pleaded.

"Sure." He said, totally guy-like.

"NO! What I mean is: I was talking with Anthony the other day, he told me about what you need that's different from him…"

"To kill." He said, finishing my sentence.

"Yeah." I said sheepishly.

"It's true, unfortunately… but I'm getting better at it!" he gushed like a kid that just learned how to ride his bike. I laughed.

"Yeah he told me about the animals in place of humans." I fiddled with my thumbs. He laughed a little.

"They are definitely not as tasty as humans." He said. I bubble of panic boiled over when he said that. Then he burst out in laughter. "You should have seen the look on your face!" he started to sit up and he gave my shoulder a playful punch when Anthony walked through the door.

"Looks like you feel better." He smiled.

"Yeah, I'm still rough around the edges though."

"Hopefully this will help." Anthony threw a canvas sack on Eric's lap that was now full of blood bags.

"Finally! This stupid transfusion is just not cutting it." Eric ripped one of the bags open.

"Natalie, may I talk to you for a second?" Anthony asked.

"Sure!" I got up and walked into a different room. Anthony walked around me and shut the door behind me.

"Natalie you have to go home. I will take care of Eric until he needs to go _up __north_, but until then, I don't know how safe it will be for you here."

"But he's fine. I was just with him, and he was fine."

"He may seem like that but inside his hunger is burning up his throat, and he may not resist the urge to have _fresh _blood, because he was hurt so badly." He finished.

I thought about when Eric tried to kiss me; he wanted to, that I could tell, but something inside of him made it difficult for him to be close to me.

"Okay, I understand. When can I come back?"

"I'll give you a call when we get back from hunting." He winked.

"Okay." I repeated. Honestly, I was starting to feel a little left out. It seemed like no one wanted me to be around them; not my parents, not the vamps. 'It's too dangerous.' they all say, well it's starting to get on my nerves. Whether _they_ want me to stay away or not, it's about time I should start making a change, but what could I do? Either way I would be risking my life, or risking my relationship with my parents, which isn't that great in the first place.

I decided to head home and deal with my unconscious parents, wait until they wake up, and lie to their faces over and over again. No matter what I tell them, they would never understand my predicament.

I grabbed my coat and took one last look at Eric, who was sucking down a blood bag like a juice box. I smiled.

"See ya' later." And I waved goodbye.

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><p><strong>kinda exciting.. kinda not... REVIEW PLEASE :)<strong>

xoxoxoxo


	11. Chapter 11

**hope you like this one, it's pretty long.. i promise the next one is going to be awesome.. i have it all up in my head.. i just need to right it down ;)**

**ENJOY!**

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><p>Chapter 11:<p>

**Eric's POV**

"Wait where's she going?" I asked Anthony between drinks of the blood bag.

"I sent her home."

"Why?"

"You know why. It's not safe for her here."

"But I'm better now that I have blood in my system."

"You know that's not enough, you still crave—"

"You don't know what it's like to be me. I know what I can and cannot handle right now." I put the empty bag on the table and rushed outside to stop Natalie before she left.

It was pouring rain and a crack of thunder rumbled through the air. She was fiddling with her keys as she tried to open her car.

"Wait!" I yelled after her. She turned around and looked confused.

"What are you doing?" she asked. "You need to go back inside, and I need to go." She turned around to try and open her door again. I grabbed her wrist and spun her around to face me.

"No! I don't need people telling me what to do. I'm fine; I will be fine, that blood helped; I can control myself." I told her grabbing her shoulders. For some reason she smiled at me. "What?" I asked.

"Nothing, it's just, I know how you feel." She kept on smiling. God, she was gorgeous. Even with soaking wet hair from the rain, some of her eye makeup running down her face, she was still beautiful. I couldn't stop myself, and I kissed her.

Once again, the warmth from her lips made my cold ones tingle. She felt so good against my lips she distracted me from my reality, and when I thought about it, I realized how badly my throat _did_ burn. I guess I didn't pay attention before because I was constantly guzzling down blood. But Anthony was right; my bloodlust is too bad right now for me to be close to her. Before I could do anything about it, I felt my fangs appear, and I accidently nicked Natalie's tongue. I pulled away from the kiss before I did any worse damage.

She put her and up to her lips and then she pulled me in and whispered. "It's okay. I trust you." Her breath pushed out the sent of her blood out, and into my nostrils. I kissed her again. My tongue ventured to where my fangs cut her before and the taste of her blood exploded in my mouth. The taste of her blood made me moan and I pushed her against the wet car. My hands played around with her hips and I finally pulled away. She was breathing hard.

"What would you say about you and I going on a date?"

"A… date?" she was taken back.

"Yeah. After I go hunting, and after we take care of your parents, let's go on a date tonight." She still looked at me like I was crazy.

"What were you thinking about doing?"

I paused for a moment, and considered what young people usually do when they are on a date. "How good are you at bowling?" I asked Natalie. She laughed.

"I'm awful."

"Perfect! It's a date." I kissed her one more time. "Now go home before you get sick from all of this rain."

When I walked back inside of Anthony's house I couldn't help but smile. As I shut the door I leaned my soaking wet body against the door. Anthony saw me and ran away, only returning when he had a towel.

"You—"

"I know that was stupid of me, but I didn't kill her."

"Yeah it was stupid, what were you thinking?" Anthony lectured.

"I was thinking I love her." I stated. I fell onto the couch and hugged a pillow.

"You know, for being over a thousand years old, you are acting like a love sick teenager."

"I am a love sick teenager." I admitted. Technically it was the truth, I will always be a teenager on the outside, even if I am 1354 years old. I never felt that old and most of the time I allow myself to act like a teenager too. Anthony huffed out air at my immaturity. "Hey, old habits die hard." I shrugged my shoulders.

"Exactly, so are you ready to go hunting?" Anthony asked. His question triggered something within me to make my throat burn more than ever. I jumped off the couch, threw on a jacket, and ran full speed into the woods and headed north.

. . .

**Natalie's POV **

As quietly as I possibly could, I slid my key into the door and opened it. Thankfully, my parents were still passed out on the couches where I left them.

Before I ran off to help Eric I patched up my parents, cleaned their wounds, and washed their faces. All in all, they looked a lot better than they did when I found them.

I walked over to my dad and peeled off the medical tape that was holding gauze to his neck wound, which I assume Eric gave him, and looked at his healing gash. It was still gross, bloody, and angry looking, don't get me wrong, it just looked a lot better than it did a few hours ago. Gently I placed the bandage back on his neck and walked over to my mother.

She had fewer injuries, just a minor slash across her arm, which looked like a clean cut from a knife. I repeated my procedure with my mom; her cut looked better and was healing. I was pushing her fair hair out of her face when I heard a knock on the door.

I walked over and opened it. It had stopped raining and I saw a new, dry, Eric standing before me.

"Hey." Eric said smiling. Even though he was a vampire, he looked better; more alive than he did a few hours ago; it must have been the hunting.

"You clean up well." He took in my comment and gestured his hands down at his jeans like a model. Then he took his dark coat by the opening near his neck and tugged on it.

"Thanks, it's Armani." He threw on a cocky smile.

"Oooh, Italian. Nice!" I patted his jacket.

"Yeah, well, I've been saving up money since, well, forever. I'm allowed to buy nice things from time to time." His smile faded after a moment. "Are your parents in there?"

"Yeah, they're asleep. I was thinking you could wake them up one at a time, that way there's no chaos."

"Sounds like a plan." He walked pass me and kneeled next to my father first. His eyes caught the bandage around his neck that was now soaked in blood. "I didn't want to hurt them, but they left me no choice. I either had to fight, or die." He looked sad.

"It's okay." I put my hand over his shoulder.

"Everyone's alive; that's what matters." He bowed his head for a second and shook my father's shoulders in order to wake him.

My dad's eyes droopily opened at fist until he locked his eyes on Eric. His eyes now grew from fear, anger, and alarm. Eric swiftly put his hand over my father's mouth. There were a few attempts at screaming, to wake my mother, but Eric's strong hand muted the sound. I held down my dad's flailing limbs as Eric worked his magic. I couldn't see his face but he was staring into my father's eyes. My dad tried to look away, but every time that happened, Eric's hand forced my father to look back at him.

"You will listen to me; you are not to scream, nor, struggle, nor run away. I'm not going to hurt you, and you are not going to hurt me." Almost instantly I felt my father's tense body relax and Eric's hand fell from his mouth. My father didn't speak a word. "Good. Now, from this moment on, you are going to forget my face, and what happened between us tonight."

My father nodded his head slightly and then a look of confusion appeared on his face. "Who are you?"

"A friend of Natalie's from school, that's all, go back to bed. You and your wife were in a terrible hunting accident where you both were attacked by a small bear."

"Oh!" my dad said. "That is terrible."

"Yes, which is why you need to sleep." Eric said in a perfectly normal voice. My father listened to Eric's commands and adjusted himself so he was comfortable in the couch, and slowly, his eyes began to shut.

"How do you do that?" I whispered, afraid I would wake my dad up.

"Just something I picked up over the years."

"So Anthony can't do mind control? Just you and your _friends?__"_ he smirked and nodded.

"Yeah, my _friends_ and me." he joked. "So how about I fix your mom, and you go get ready for our date."

I looked down at my wet clothes. It took me up until now to realize I probably looked like crap. Eric was dressed in designer clothes, while I was probably looking something close to a mop. I felt my face get hot and I ran up into my room.

As quick as I could I blew out my brown hair so it was no longer wet, washed the ugly smeared make up off of my face, and put on new make up. I threw my wet clothes into the bathtub, dried my body with a towel, and ran across my room to put on some decent clothes. I grabbed my favorite bra, the black one with some lace decorating it, because it made my boobs look REALLY good. I mean it was the least I could do, I looked like crap when Eric last saw me, and he deserved to have a good-looking date. I grabbed my dark jeans and my cutest top. It was a little baggy and was a faded pink color, with a swoop neck. The last thing I did was grab my shoes and I ran back down stairs to meet Eric.

His eyes surveyed my new outfit. "You clean up well." He mimicked me.

"Yeah?" I moved my hand, showing off my outfit. "It's target. You like?"

"Yes." I offered his left arm to him so that he could chauffeur me to his car. I accepted it and he pulled me close as he kissed me on the cheek as we walked out the door."

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><p><strong>sooo What do you think? REVIEW PLEASE!<strong>

**...like i said... the next one is gonna be... _romantic_ **


	12. Chapter 12

**hope you like this one ;D ENJOY!**

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><p>Chapter 12:<p>

I grabbed the rental pair of bowling shoes off of the counter and walked side by side with Eric to our lane. We both sat down and tied our shoes on. I know it seems really gross, but I love the feeling of bowling shoes; they've been broken in, so they are always really comfortable.

I walked over to the shelving of bowling balls and picked a few out. One was a greenish color with swirls that weighed about 11 pounds. The other was pink and weighed 9 pounds. Just in case I fail at using the eleven-pounder, I'll have the pink girly ball to back me up.

"You're up first." Eric said from the mini monitor that kept our scores. I sighed.

"Okay. Here I go." I walked up to the wooden lane with the swirly green blowing ball and held it in front of me, mentally preparing myself for the horror that was about to come. I swung my arm back and released. The ball plopped hard onto the land and traveled about 3 feet, and then went straight into the gutter. Before I even had time to turn around I could hear Eric laughing.

"I told you I'm horrible at bowling." I retorted.

"Hey, you still have one more try." Eric gestured at the ball rack. I grabbed the smaller ball this time and got ready for my second turn. I wound up and released. Thankfully the ball stayed in the lane long enough to hit two pins down.

Shamefully, I walked back over to my seat and watched the pitiful "2" pop up next to my name on the scoreboard. I sighed again. "Your turn."

Eric went up and grabbed his dark blue swirly ball and waited for the machine to set up the pins. As soon as everything was ready he gracefully made his approach, swung his arm back, and released. The ball traveled down the center of the lane hitting the top pin, causing all of the pins to fall simultaneously. Strike. He turned around with a smug look on his face.

"Cheater." I mumbled.

"It's not cheating it you have the skills." He pulled me out of my chair. "Come on I'll help you this time."

Timidly, I followed him to the ball rack and I grabbed the pink ball.

"No, no, no. Go big or go home." He made me grab the heavier ball. "Come on." He pointed for me to step up to the lane. I felt his cool, hard body behind me as he moved my arm through the correct movements. "Like this." He kept repeating.

"Ready?" I nodded my head. "Okay. One, two, three." He was in complete control of my throwing arm, and he forced it to move precisely so the bowling ball traveled directly in the center of the lane. Strike. "Easy right?" he asked.

"I guess it's not so hard when you've had… how many years to practice?"

"About 500."

"Yeah, you are definitely a cheater."

"How is it cheating? I've just had more time to practice. I'm playing fair and square." He smiled cockily.

"We'll I see that… but you _did_ hustle me."

"No I didn't. I never told you I was amazing at bowling." He smiled again.

"You're still a cheater." I joked.

The rest of the night went on like this: Eric would get a multiple strikes in a row, and I would get multiple gutter balls in a row. Then Eric would proceed in pretending to be bad and _only_ get eight pins down, to try and make me feel better. After everything, Eric ending up winning and we were the last people to leave the bowling ally.

It was about 2 o' clock at night by the time we finally left the bowling ally and he was driving home. The occasional lights from passing cars lit up his face and I couldn't help but think how handsome he was. His black hair was messy and his brown eyes were focused on the road. His plump lips curved into a smile when he noticed I was starring at him. I quickly looked away. I could feel my cheeks become warm as they flushed with blood. Eric's smile grew and he turned his head for a moment, and then returned his eyes to the road.

"You know it's kind of a turn on, for a vampire, when you blush." He said in a seductive voice, which made me blush even more.

He pulled up his car to his house and ran, at vampire speed, to the passenger's side and opened the door for me. He picked me up, bridal style, and walked me into his house. He carried me up the small flight of stairs and into his bedroom.

Gently, Eric laid me down on my back, then he crawled on top of me, kissing me. His cold, hard body pressed against mine. Our hands intimately explored each other's bodies. Eric's cold hands ventured under my shirt and traveled up toward my breasts, giving me goose bumps. I couldn't help but breath harder as our kiss grew passionately.

I rolled over so that I was now straddling Eric's body. I flicked my brown hair over to one side of my shoulder and Eric traced one finger down the crook of my neck. He sat up so that now his lips kissed my neck while his hands start to take off my shirt. I mimicked his actions and now his shirt was also on the floor. Even in the dim lighting I could see his defined chest and abs. _Damn!_

Our kiss grew even more and his hands began to explore lower and lower. He started unbuttoning my jeans, and I couldn't help but hesitate.

Eric must have noticed my hesitation and he spoke up.

"What's wrong?"

"Um—"

"Do you not want to do this? Because I don't want to force you into anything. We can wait, I'm fine with that."

"No! I mean… I _do_ want to. It's just, I've never done this before." I shrugged my shoulders and turned away from him; embarrassed at what I told him. He leaned on one elbow and then pulled my head to look at him again.

"A girl as pretty as you; this can't be your first time." He somewhat joked.

"Yeah well I've kind of been preoccupied with vampires in my past." He smiled. "Will you give me a moment?" he nodded. I hopped off of the bed and ran into the bathroom.

I looked at my self in the mirror and ran my fingers through my hair, fixing the mess Eric had already made. I gripped the grey granite counter and stared at my reflection. I noticed I was still wearing my jeans so I slipped them off. _Am __I __ready __to __do __this?_ I asked myself. Never in my life had someone seen me in just my bra and underwear. _Am __I __really __ready __to __do __this? _I repeated in my head. _Yes, __I __love __him. __As __odd __as __it __is __for __a __vampire __hunter __to __love __a __vampire, __I __love __him._

I took a deep breath and opened the bathroom door, and made my best sexy pose. He had been lying on his back with his hands behind his head, but when he saw me he rolled over to his side and nearly fell off of the bed.

"Wow, you look amazing!" he now sat at the edge of the bed and I walked between his open legs, kissing him.

He rolled me around so that I was now on my back. He continued to kiss me, but he no longer kissed me on my lips; his lips traveled down to my neck, my breasts, my abdomen, my hips and inner thighs. I couldn't help but moan as he kissed me in places I had never been kissed. My hand went down and I squeezed his hair. His brown eyes looked up at me from my hips and he was now face to face with me.

"I love you." He whispered caressing my neck.

"You can do it you know... I trust you." I whispered back. He didn't waste a second. His lips started kissing my neck, but that was quickly replaced by the quick prick of his fangs.

The bite didn't hurt as much as I expected, in fact, it felt good; really good. I moaned and squeezed the back of his neck; he moaned too. Our hips stirred together and we became lost in each other's passion.

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><p><strong>OH MY GOODNESS! :3 i have been waiting to write that scene for the looooongest time! hehe what do you think? was it good? lol.. honestly, i don't really know exactly how it happens.. but that's all im gonna say... PLEASE REVIEW! <strong>

**x o - x o - (kisses, hugs, and bites) :D**


	13. Chapter 13

**hey guys.. i really felt like updating for some reason.. so here's a new chapter. the two "break lines" are signaling that there is a flashback! WHOO hehe... hope you like it, ENJOY!**

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><p>Chapter 13:<p>

_Eric's POV_

Cooking was much harder than I remember, granted I was only cooking eggs, bacon, and toast, but it was still hard trying to time everything to come out at the same time. I turned up the heat on the omelet and flipped it one more time as I pushed down the bread in the toaster. I started flipping the bacon over when I heard Natalie walk out the bedroom. I looked down the hallway from the kitchen. She had taken one of my button up shirts and used it as robe. "Morning, Sleeping Beauty." I said. She smiled as she sat down at the barstool.

"Morning." She yawned. "I didn't know could cook."

"I wouldn't speak too soon; you haven't tasted it yet."

"Well, it looks delicious." She said as I set the plate in front of her. She licked her lips and took a bite of the cheesy omelet. "Mmmmm!"

"It's good?" I asked. She put a thumb up and tried the bacon.

"Mmm humm!" she nodded, but her neck seemed to give her pain so she put one hand up to the spot where I bit her.

"Sorry." I said walking over to her. "It'll heal soon, I promise." I tried to examine the wound but she pushed me away.

"I'm fine. I just need to remember: no sudden movements. It didn't even hurt when you did it." She paused and then looked confused. "Why didn't it hurt when you bit me?"

"Anthony has been trying to find a scientific definition of _why_I can do that, but all we found out is that I can trigger endorphins in both your and my bodies that are similar to the endorphins produced during sex." I stopped realizing how teacher-like I sounded. Natalie smiled at the last word.

"So I'm guessing this is another one of your cool super powers."

"Yeah, but the others- I don't think- have discovered it, or at least they don't see the need in pleasing their victims."

There was a long pause, as Natalie continued to eat, before she started talking again. "How did you, you know, become a vampire? What makes you and the others so special?"

"Do you really want to know?"

"Yeah! Why would I have asked?" she smiled.

"It's a long story…" Natalie nodded her head as if gesturing me to continue so I sat on the barstool next to her and thought about where to start telling her the story of my existence. "Do you even know how old I am?"

She shook he head. "You've never told me."

"Guess."

"I don't know, the oldest vamp I've fought was about 500, and you said you guys were the oldest of the old, so I'm gonna say… 1200."

"Wow, not a bad guess."

"Really?"

"Yes. I was born in 638 A.D." I stated. Her jaw dropped.

"Are you serious?"

"Completely."

"So are the others as old as you are?" she asked.

I shrugged my shoulders. "Give or take a few years. We didn't all change at the same time, but I was one of the first." I looked at her green eyes and she looked back at me. "Natalie, do you know why we are so different from other vampires? Why we are so much more powerful than the others?"

"Isn't just because as you get old you become stronger and get cool powers?"

"That's part of it. Natalie," I grabbed her shoulders making sure I had her full attention. "We were the first people ever to become vampires."

"What? How is that even possible? I mean, you have to be turned by a vampire to become a vampire—"

"There was a common gene we all share. It has to do with our bloodlines; a mutation in the gene. Those of us who had the dominant gene transformed into beings that needed blood to survive, and eventually became what we are today. For some of us, the first part of the change happen when we were younger, for others it happened when they were older. It all depended on when the gene took over. But, you have to understand it wasn't a fast transformation, not like the vampires today; it was agonizingly slow. It took years before we were full vampires."

"What was it like, in the beginning?"

"Strange. We all lived in the same village at the time and it seemed as if we had all contracted the same disease. We became gravely ill; any food we ate was regurgitated immediately, our body temperature dropped, our skin became sensitive to light, and our hearts started to fail. Back then apothecaries and doctors tried anything to help us, and we were willing to try anything to get better. One day they came to us with the blood of a lamb and told us to drink it. In theory it was supposed to replace the blood our heart no longer could pump, and for any human it wouldn't have changed anything, but for us it did. The blood made us stronger, but our hearts still failed to work properly."

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><p><em><strong>England: 657<strong>_

"Where are you going?" I whispered to Ramon. He had been like a father to me ever since mine had died. He was largely built and we had similar black hair and brown eyes. He looked back at me from the darkness that surrounded him. I could barely see his face even thought my eyesight had improved ever since this plague had come upon all of us.

"I can't stand it anymore. The cravings are back, I need to find something." He whispered weakly gripping the knife he had in his hand.

"They said they would bring us more in the morning. Go back to bed before you wake someone."

"Do you want to come with me?" he asked. I thought about it for a moment, the thought of going out and slitting an animal's throat for it's blood revolted me but the thought of drinking it's blood made my mouth water.

"Fine." I slowly walked over to Ramon from the hay bale I had been lying on. Ramon smiled now that he had someone to share this adventure with.

"Come on." He led the way.

We walked through the night toward the stables, and my senses were going crazy. It felt like I could hear, smell, and see everything around me even though everyone was asleep. My ears twitched as I heard a twig snap; Ramon heard it too. We both turned around to find a young woman caring a wooden pale filled with water.

"What are you doing out here at this time?" Ramon asked the girl.

"I always wake before sunrise and fetch water for the morning meal. The question that should be asked it what in heavens are _you__two_ doing? Are you trying to infect the entire village? Get back to your quarters, the doctors have not cured you." The woman began to chauffer us back to the area where the other sickened people were sleeping. I did not protest since I was tired, and never wanted to go with Ramon to begin with; but Ramon did. With more force than I had ever seen, he shoved the woman to the ground, forcing her to land on her hands, and the gravel caused her to bleed.

The scent hit Ramon first and he knelt down to her and sniffed her palm. Slowly, Ramon licked the scarlet drop that formed on her hand. He latched on now, biting into her palm. I tried to pull him away.

"Stop it! What are you doing?" I tugged at his shoulders. He looked over at me and his eyes were no longer brown; they were red. "What the—?" I staggered back and fell backwards. Ramon dragged the struggling woman over to me.

"You think the lamb blood helps, try this." He held out the bleeding palm. I didn't know what to do, but I seemed to move as if I did. I crawled closer to him and smelled the blood. When I inhaled the intoxicating scarlet scent I couldn't help but try for myself.

I licked the blood away from her hand and the taste exploded in my mouth. The feeling I got from the blood I stole was intoxicating; I wanted more. I could feel her pulse strengthen mine, give me life, and give me power. I felt a change come over my entire body, tingling everywhere.

I heard the woman scream again so I looked up to find the reason behind it. Ramon had bit into her neck and was drinking from there. Blood was constantly flowing down her neck; this looked like a more reliable way to get blood so I bit her neck as well.

Seconds later I heard Ramon coughing, chocking, and screaming. Soon enough the same thing was happening to me. I no longer felt invigorated; I was in seething pain. Limb by limb I was engrossed with the feeling of burning, and stabbing as my body changed into something that was far from human.

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><p>"Human blood triggered the transformation" Natalie finished my thought.<p>

"Yes, and it's still that way today. Once a human begins the transformation into a vampire they must have human blood or else they will die."

"Oh yeah… Does that mean you guys turned all of the vampires of the world today, like they are all your great great great great grandchildren?"

"In a way, yes. It's also why we're more powerful than they are. They are only partially vampires, while we have been 'vampires' our whole lives."

"Huh. So how come it was only a few that got sick, not your whole family?"

"Fate? Punishment? Maybe it was the right ratio of the vamp gene. I don't know, it's just part of who we were, we couldn't change that. That's why it's so hard for them to act human, because technically we never were. We were just in transformation until we tasted human blood. Ever since then we've gotten stronger." I looked at Natalie's bite again and she looked down and sighed. She gave me a hug and looked at the clock.

"Crap, I have to go. My parents are going to be freaking out if I'm not home soon." She hugged me again. "Thanks for telling me about you, and thanks for last night; it was UH-MAZ-ING." She gushed like a frilly girl we both knew she wasn't. I smiled.

"You're welcome and I can take you home if you want."

"I'd like that. She kissed me.

"And you might want to consider wearing scarves for a while, at least around your parents." I winked at her.

"Sounds like a plan!"

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><p><strong>hope you like this one.. REVIEW PLEASE! the next couple of chapters will show the darker side of Eric that he has been keeping -mostly- from Natalie.. and the people he has been keeping from her... ;)<strong>


	14. Chapter 14

Chapter 14:

_Eric's POV_

I dropped off Natalie at her house but I stayed in the car and rolled down the window. The cold wind from the on coming winter blew in. It should have made me shiver, but the cold no longer bothered me.

"Hey!" I called to her and popped my collar, signaling for her to do the same.

"Oh right!" she flipped up her collar, hiding the bite marks on her neck. She came over to my open window. "Thanks again." She said as she bent down and kissed me. "I love you." She whispered.

"Ditto." I said and winked at her. "See you in school tomorrow."

"Yepp." She said as she walked up to her house.

. . .

I didn't have to walk far into the woods to find them. I could smell the blood from my car. I sped up, the forest went by me in a blur, and I walked up to the rest of the group. The sun was speckled across my skin. I remembered how awful the sun made me feel: any contact with it would cause instantaneous burns on my skin. Not anymore. My kind, and even new vamps, have adapted so that the sun was no longer a problem.

Everyone was caught up in abusing, and drinking from their women, so no one really noticed me—except Kenneth. He's a six-foot tall blonde with blue eyes and the only other super vamp that knows all of my secrets. Ronan was like a father, while Kenneth was like my brother. I told him everything, he knew I didn't always drink from humans, but Kenneth always tried to persuade me to let go of the human side of me.

"You're late." He said walking over to me, leaving the group. He had blood on his face and he wiped it off with his sleeve.

"I know."

"They've started to notice. You know you can't keep expecting them to not notice you," He stopped and smelled the air. "You fucking smell like a human. Who is she?"

"Shhh." I looked over Kenneth's shoulder to make sure no one was listening to our conversation.

"What? You know they don't pay attention to anything once they've started drinking. It's like they're a bunch of intoxicated drunks. So, who is she? I can smell her all over you."

"She's just a girl I know from school." I told him. There were times when I felt like I could tell Kenneth everything, but I couldn't tell him _everything _about Natalie; it's just too risky.

"Yeah? How does she taste?"

"Great!" I played along at first, but realized that i was telling the truth. I _have_ tasted Natalie's blood, and it tasted amazing.

"Yeah?" I could see the hunger start to appear within Kenneth with all of the talk of blood. The burning that overflows whenever blood is present was taking him over. "Mind sharing?"

"Sorry, I already compelled her. She doesn't remember a thing about vamps."

"So? All we have to do is go back_… __or __in_, and bite her again. Who cares?" I clenched my fists as he spoke. I wanted to kill him for the way he was talking about Natalie. If he knew the truth about her and me, he might not be talking about her like this, but things would be different if she was a vampire. He would respect her if she was a vampire, but he had no respect for humans.

Kenneth looked back at the group. They were all still feeding, but they had shifted so that we could now see the scared, shaking girls. They ranged anywhere from 16 to about early 30's. I looked at all of them, and one looked familiar. The girls were all struggling to break free of their restraints so it was hard to tell who she was from all of the movement.

I heard Kenneth snicker and he ran off to bring one back to me. She had a piece of cloth wrapped around her mouth so that she couldn't scream, but she definitely was trying and her blonde hair was covering her eyes. Kenneth pushed her to the ground so that she was on her knees. He grabbed the blonde hair from the back of her head and tugged, causing the girl's jugular to stick out. He traced a finger down her neck and he slowly let her head fall back to its normal positioning. Then he looked into her crying eyes.

"Don't run. Don't scream." He said viciously. Slowly he pulled the cloth off of her mouth. She didn't do anything but cry. When he pushed away her hair, I knew why she was so familiar. I went to school with her. It was Kate. "It's funny that you like school girls." He laughed "I found this one coming home from cheerleading practice last night. She was in her short-shorts, and all _perky_." He said. Kate looked me straight in the eyes but said nothing; she was compelled not to. I didn't say anything either; I chose not to.

"You know, you really shouldn't trust a pretty face. It can get you in a shit load of trouble." Kenneth looked at me. "What ever happened to, don't go home with strangers?" He said more to Kate than to me. His eyes turned red and he showed off his fangs to Kate. She cried out more. "Shut up!" he slapped her and then kneeled down by her. "Humans are so emotional. That's what separates us from them. They _feel_ things, insignificant things. You learn after 1000 years that feelings are only temporary, and eventually you let everything go." He bit into her neck and she struggled a little. She looked pleadingly into my eyes, asking for me to help her. I looked down; Kate continued to whimper.

Kenneth stopped drinking from her and looked back at me. There was some remaining blood around his lips and he licked it up. "Care to join me?" he pulled Kate by the hair over to me. The scent of her blood overtook all of my senses, and Kenneth was waiting for me to accept his offer. _I __have __to __act __like __nothing __is __wrong._ I thought. I _can't help myself._

I felt the prickle of my fangs in my mouth, and, from Kate's expression, I guessed my eyes had changed from brown to red. The change has happened so many times I barely even noticed when it happened anymore. I cleared the remaining hair off her neck and pushed it to her back. I stared her directly in the eye.

"Scream." I commanded her.

I bit down. She struggled and screamed. Her warm blood rushed into my mouth causing me to bit down harder; I wanted more. I could feel her fear; I was feeding off of it. It was always more invigorating feeding off of the scared than the willing. I couldn't stop myself; I kept drinking.

Then I felt it, the one thing that I needed more than any other vamp out there. I could feel her life dissipate—vanish as drank from her lifeless body. I killed Kate. I killed one of Natalie's friends.

. . .

I was pacing the living room when I heard the knock on the door and ran to answer it. Anthony was standing there as the snow was falling behind him.

"What's wrong? You sounded really flustered in your message." He said as he stepped into my house. I continued to pace.

"I did something. I did something really bad." I said. It didn't take long for Anthony to smell the blood. He watched me pace around.

"What did you do?"

"I went to the others—I couldn't help it—this is so bad." My mind was moving faster than my mouth. "I killed her."

"It's okay, we'll figure this out. It's not like we haven't been in this position before—"

"No! You don't understand. I killed Kate." I stopped pacing so I could yell. I pulled on Anthony's arm and led him to the bathroom where Kate's bloody, lifeless body was in the bathtub. He took in air as a gasp. "That's not even the worst part," I started. "She's not dead, she's in transition."

"You gave her your blood!" Anthony yelled.

"I couldn't let her die. Natalie would have killed me."

"And you think making her into a vampire is going to fix it?"

"Of course not! But it's a start." I said, utterly defeated.

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><p><strong>BaBaBum! What do you think? Let me know please! REVIEW, REVIEW, REVIEW! your reviews motivate me to updates sooner ;) so if you want an update soon, REVIEW!<strong>

**xoxoxo**


	15. Chapter 15

**so this is back in Natalie's POV... just in case you didn't realize ;) ... ENJOY and as always: REVIEW PLEASE!**

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><p>Chapter 15:<p>

I did a great job at covering up Eric's bite marks from my parents the other night. They didn't notice a thing, but going to school would be a different story. In the world where hickies reside on a daily basis—especially after the weekend—hiding two bite marks was going to be difficult.

I grabbed some liquid cover up to help with the small bruising and then applied a power cover up to try and hide anything else. It was no use. Anyone with a brain stem could tell I had something there. I decided to grab a scarf (thank god it's winter) and a ran downstairs to finish getting ready for school.

"Cute scarf." My mom told me as she was pouring coffee into two travel mugs.

"Thanks." I grabbed some books off of the counter and shoved them into my bag.

"Okay honey that's the last bag—" my dad said as he held a duffle bag over his shoulder.

"What's going on?" I asked in between bites of breakfast.

"Your father and I are going to go out of town for a while."

"Why?" I asked. They both stayed silent for a long time but finally came to a consensus.

"We believe there are vampires here that are more than what they seem, and we are going to do something about it."

I pretended this was new news. "Oh really? So why do you have to go out of town?"

"To see the experts. We need professional help for these ones. We'll be back within a week."

"And while we are gone, NO HUNTING. These vamps are dangerous, stay with one of your friends if you want." My father said.

"Be safe. We love you." My mom kissed my forehead.

It must have been the brain washing Eric did because the new versions of my parents were perfect. They didn't lie to me.

As soon as their big SUV pulled out of the driveway I texted Kate. If anyone would know how to throw a party, it was her.

THE RENTS ARE GONE FOR THE NEXT WEEK. YOU'RE INVITED AND BRING A FEW FRIENDS IF YOU WANT :)

I waited for a reply. Nothing. Funny, she always has her phone. I didn't think anything of it. People didn't always reply to texts, no big deal.

"I'll talk to her at school." I said aloud as I got in my car.

. . .

I waited next to Kate's locker up until the first hour bell rang. "Huh?" I shrugged it off and started to walk to class. I looked around to see if Kate came to class early for some reason, but she wasn't here, neither was Eric.

Kate never came the whole day; I would know, I practically have the same schedule as her. I was walking back from Spanish class, flustered about my last test, and bumped into Eric. He looked just about as eccentric as I was.

"Hey!" I smiled, but he didn't return it. "Have you seen Kate? My parents are going to be gone all week and I want her to help me plan a small get together."

"No." he said quickly and not making eye contact with me.

"Okay…Hey, where were you first hour? I didn't see you in chem."

"I ran some errands."

"You ran errands? Since when are you Mr. Mom?" I asked. He stopped putting books in his locker and turned to me. All sense of humor was drained from his face. Eric looked stern and strict. He opened his backpack a little, showing me bags of blood.

"Oh… right…" I said. _What__'__s __wrong __with __Eric? __Why __is __he __acting __so __weird?_

I started putting my Spanish books away and grabbed my gym bag when I tried to change the subject. "Do you think I could come over after school? I just bombed my Espanol tres test and I need some help. Can you tutor me?" I asked. He gripped the side of the locker and squeezed his eyes shut like he was trying to remember something. He looked at me with cold eyes.

"Sure." He slammed the locker and walked to his next class.

. . .

I waited behind Eric as he fiddled with his keys to find the right one for the giant door. He threw his backpack on the ground, skulked up the stairs, and plopped on the couch.

I placed my backpack near him and started to head toward the bathroom.

"Don't go in there!" he nearly shouted.

"What? Why?"

"I'm, uh, getting it remodeled. Nothing works anymore. You'll have to use the upstairs one."

"Okay?" I said as I walked up another flight of stairs. I swear I heard him sigh a breath of relief as I walked away.

After I relieved all of my duties I came back into the living room where Eric was sitting with his head in his hands.

"Tengo muchas problemas en Espanol!" I said with a horrible Spanish accent.

"_YO_ tengo muchos problemas!" Eric corrected in a flawless accent.

"Oh, I thought I didn't need the 'yo' because I already conjugated—" Eric's laughter cut me off.

"No. I'm telling you _I _have problems." He laughed, almost hysterically. "My life sucks. Literally."

I sat down on the couch next to Eric and put my arm around his defined shoulders. "What's wrong?"

"What isn't wrong?" he put his head in his hands again.

"Tell me what's on your mind."

"No."

"Come on." I rubbed his shoulders and cuddled a little closer.

"If I tell you, you'll hate me."

"I'll never hate you." I automatically said, but truthfully, Eric was freaking me out. _What did he do?_

"Yes you will." He looked up from his hands at me. His expression was complete and utter defeat and it looked as if her were on the verge of tears. "I lied to you." He said. I laughed.

"You think I'm going to hate you over one silly lie. I might get angry, but I won't hate you!" I paused, looking at his serious face. I started getting weirded out. "What did you lie about?"

"I _have_ seen Kate, but I told you I didn't."

"Where'd you see her?"

"The last time I saw her was in the woods."

"What was she—?" Eric cut me off.

"I went out into the woods to meet with the others. They were feeding, and I haven't seen them in over a month so I decided to meet with them to erase suspicions. That's when I saw Kate." Eric wasn't looking at me; he was staring blankly at the floor in front of him. Ok now he was starting to worry me.

"Why was Kate there?" I asked with panic in my voice.

"I killed her." He said and then finally made eye contact with me. "And I liked it." His lips started quivering and his eyes started watering. As for me, I actually think my heart stopped. _Did __I __hear __him __right?_ "I hate what they can make me do! They pull me in and they tempt me. They tempt me! and they make me want blood, more than I've ever wanted blood in my life. I hate what they are, and I hate what I am! I'm a fucking monster!" He looked up at me; I was still speechless. "I want to be human again because I miss it; I miss it more than anything in the world!" he held my shoulders. I didn't know if it was to steady him or if it was to stop me from running away.

"You… killed Kate…" I said. He could only nod his head. "Where is she now?"

"St. Mary's Mourge. I know people who work there that will clean her up for the funeral. They'll make it look like no one ever touched her. I want her family to remember her that way; happy."

I took my hand and covered my mouth. My eyes were now starting to water. "She was here, that's why you didn't want me to go into the bathroom, wasn't it?"

He nodded. "I haven't finished cleaning up the blood." I stayed silent. I didn't know what to say. "I tried to save her." Eric interrupted. "I gave her my blood but it didn't work, and I'm still fucking pissed at myself. I should have never gone there in the first place." He tugged on his hair and continued to cry in his hands. I placed my arm around his shoulder again. He was right, I did hate him, but from the way he was reacting, I couldn't hate him.

"It's okay. You know why? Because we are going to get them. _They _are the murderers, the killers, the rapists, and they are going to die for it." His wet eyes looked at me.

"You don't hate me?"

"Right now, I don't know what to feel." His shoulders slumped. I took my hand and moved his chin so it was facing me. "But I can tell this is who you are, and that you hate yourself enough, you don't need me to hate you too."

"Really?"

"Really." I said as I leaned in to kiss his cold, tear covered lips.

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><p><strong>REVIEW PLEASE! don't be shy ;)<strong>


	16. Chapter 16

**once again.. i had fun writing this one :) we learn a little more about kenneth and a little more about Eric's past :) it's a little longer than i normally write so enjoy :) don't forget to review!**

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><p>Chapter 16:<p>

_Eric's POV_

I felt warm hands brush the lose strands of hair off of my forehead and I decided to open my eyes. I looked up to see Natalie. _I __can__'__t __believe __she __stayed __after_ _everything_...

We must have fallen asleep on the couch together because my head was on her chest and I was basically using her boobs as a pillow. I chuckled.

"Mmmm, morning." I nuzzled my head closer. She laughed.

"Ugh, you're such a guy." She tried to push me away, but i kept nudging closer. I showed off a huge fake smile as she laughed at me. "Does that happen all the time?" She asked.

"What?" I sat up.

"Your fangs, do they pop out when you sleep?" she held out her hand and touched one gently.

"Ummm, no…" I retracted them. When vamp's fangs came out it meant it was feeding time. They didn't come out just because of no control when I slept; it's more like a vampire morning boner. Subconsciously I must have smelled Natalie's blood so close to me, so my fangs came out; ready to munch.

Changing the subject, thankfully, Natalie asked: "Since my parents are out of town, and there are big bad vamps on the loose, is it okay if I stay here?"

"yeah, that's fine."

Natalie opened her mouth as if she was about to say something else, but the knock on the door interrupted her.

"Did you invite someone over?" she mouthed. I shook my head back and forth.

I got up from the couch and sped over to the door. I looked behind me to see Natalie peering curiously from the couch. All I could see was a disfigured blonde haired person through the glass. I opened the door to see Kenneth standing before me.

"Brother!" he invited himself in and hugged me. "Look I'm sorry about the chick. I know you don't like doing that stuff anymore, but wasn't it great? Just like old times!"

"Um, yeah… What are you doing here?"

"We never see each other anymore! You only come around when it's feeding time, but that's not enough; we need a guys night out." he started walking up the stairs. I followed closely behind him, making sure he didn't go after Natalie. "Oh! Who's this?" he asked.

Natalie stood up from the couch and looked at me for an answer. The best I could do was give her a look that said: _Don__'__t __say __anything._ And sure enough she understood and smiled at him, sticking out her hand. Kenneth took it and kissed the backside.

"Kenneth, this is Natalie, the girl I told you about before." I told him as he studied her, circling her like a shark on its prey. When he was behind her he squeezed her butt and caressed her hips. At the end of his circling he pushed himself against her back and pulled her hair behind her shoulders and noticed the bite marks.

"Ah, so you're the school-girl…" he turned his head back to me. "You've got a nice one Eric. Mind sharing?" Kenneth's fangs popped out.

"I'd rather not."

"Oh?" Kenneth questioned. I panicked, realizing that I just showed Kenneth that i cared for Natalie and that she is more than a blood bank.

"_I'd rather not_ share her with someone who is just going to kill her." I walked up to the stiff Natalie and curled her hair in my fingers. "I want to keep her alive so I can savor every. last. drop. for as long as i can."

Natalie's expression remained neutral. I'll have to give her props for that later because that is exactly what she would look like if I compelled her not to do anything but allow me to drink her blood.

Kenneth breathed out a laugh. "Well, you lucky bastard," He punched me in the shoulder, hard enough to bruise it, but I healed fast. "you always knew how to pick 'em."

"Yeah." I said. "So what did you come over to tell me about?" I asked, changing the subject so I didn't have to replay any memories of the 'dark days' in my head.

"Oh right!" Kenneth looked away from Natalie. Suddenly he became the dangerous, devious vampire I knew him to be. "What are you up to?"

"What do you mean?"

"Don't give me that bullshit! I know you're planning something, and I want to know what it is." He pulled me closer. I snuck a quick glance at Natalie, who was still trying her best to play the part of "blood bank slut" while listening intently to our conversation. "You and I, we've been like brothers since the beginning. Those other guys, especially Ronan, bug the shit out of me and you know that. If they didn't plan on killing me the second I walked out of that little clan, I'd be gone by now. I fucking hate being… _contained_ by people." he spat,

I knew he was telling the truth and I could trust him. One of the reasons we became so close was the fact the neither of could stand Ronan. Of course I hated his killing, and Kenneth hated his containment, but we were still on the same page. Kenneth knew I didn't kill people, as often (nobody's perfect), as he did, and he didn't care. He was the independent guy, he can't stand being in groups where his isn't ranked first; that's just who he is.

I looked into his blue eyes. "You swear you won't tell anyone…"

"Yeah, sure, I solemnly swear; Boy Scout's honor." He held up three fingers. I wasn't amused.

"I'm being serious. You're not here spying?"

"No! I swear." He did look serious now. So I began to tell him everything. My work with Anthony, the wolf's bane; everything. When I finished, Kenneth flopped on the couch in astonishment. "So you're sure the wolf's bane works?"

"Unfortunately, yes. I tested a small amount myself."

"What was it like?"

"A little like swallowing fire and having it burn your throat, and it felt like I hadn't fed for a year."

"Damn! That is wicked shit."

"Yeah."

"But this is the smartest thing I've ever heard of. Killing them with the one thing that makes them stronger. How are you going to do it?" he asked.

"Same old. Get some girls together before everyone feeds; inject some with wolf's bane, and let the magic happen." I couldn't help but see the smile on Natalie's face. I smiled back. Kenneth looked at her suspiciously.

"Wait a second... I though you looked familiar. You're in this too, killing the vamps; you're that hunter chick!" Kenneth stood up. Natalie started to speak up but he interrupted her. "You sly dog!" he looked at me with a grin on his face. "So, sleeping with the enemy now, eh?"

I shook my head as I laughed at his comment. "She's on our side."

"And I'm not _your_ play thing! You little perv." She walked over to me.

"They all eventually want to take Ken for a ride, it's all a matter of time." He waggled his eyebrows.

"Bite me!" she stuck out her tongue.

"If you insist, Buffy." Kenneth popped his fangs out.

"Stop it!" I yelled. "Kenneth, I know you hate the idea of respecting humans, but just be the mature adult you're supposed to be." He retracted his fangs and pouted a little. "Thank you." I said. "We're all going to have to work together in order to kill the others, so we might as well _not_ kill each other if we want this to work."

The both mumbled their "fine's" and I sent Kenneth back to where he came from. "Make sure no one suspects anything, and tell them dinner is on me tomorrow." i ordered.

"Tomorrow!" Natalie squeaked.

"Yeah tomorrow, let's finish these bastards off once and for all." I said. Kenneth smiled wickedly and sped away in a blur. I shut the door behind him and sat back on the couch.

"So," Natalie sat next to me. "Why so eager to get rid of them?" she asked. _Like __she __didn__'__t __already __know._ I hesitated. Natalie cocked her head to the side and asked: "What's wrong?"

"I've known these people for over one-thousand years, it's just crazy to think they will finally be gone."

"Well, you'll have Kenneth."

"Great! The horny, human hating, blood thirsty Kenneth."

"It seems like you really know him though." Natalie said. I turned to her.

"I think he could be a good person if he tried, but he would never give up his lifestyle for it. He's always wanted to be one of those vamps that travel's the world. He hates being held down by _the man_." We both laughed. "Yeah the 60s were and interesting time for us."

"As long as he wants to kill those nasty other vamps, he's a friend of mine." Natalie joked. She put her head on my shoulder and after a long, completely soothing silence she asked: "Hey Eric?"

"Mmm?" I hummed.

"How come you didn't kill me all of the times you had the chances?"

"Easy! I don't kill humans."

"Why?"

"What do you mean _why_? Killing innocent humans is horrible, you know how I felt after… _you __know.__" _I could barely speak of the incident.

"But what made you change from evil killing machine to good vamp?" she asked. I sighed. There were so many different answers, but I could only put it into certain words.

"I let my emotions in. All of the years I spent killing innocent people, I let my humanity, and human emotions disappear because I didn't care." I stopped remembering the exact instant I decided enough was enough. I took in another breath and decided to share the story. "Around the beginning of World War one, I was roaming the neighborhoods, searching for families who had their father's off at war. I figured it would be easier to attack the mother and children that way. I had settled on a house and knocked on the door, they welcomed me into their home. It was foolish of them to let a complete stranger in, and they paid for it; I killed the mother and the two children. Nothing seemed wrong to me at the time; they were just another source of blood. But when I got to the third child, she was quivering under a knocked over table. She was small, about 4 years young. Her brown messy bob barely covered her crying eyes. I'll never forget that image because it reminded me so much of my little sister."

"I didn't know you had a sister?" Natalie chimed in quietly. I smiled as I remembered my years with my little Alyana.

"She would come to me every night when I was '_sick'_, even though the town prohibited it, and guess what she would do?"

"What?"

"She clasped her little hands and prayed for me to get better; every night. Some nights she would stay longer and talk, others we would draw in the dirt. I taught her how to write the alphabet."

"Aww."

"So my story is this: that little girl, who watched her whole family die because of me, reminded me of Alyana. If my sister saw what I was…knew what i had become..." I choked back a little. "I knew from that moment on I could never let myself become a monster. I had to listen to my instincts, my _human_ instincts."

Natalie snuggled closer to me and I noticed she was crying. "I'm glad you made the right choice."

"Me too."

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><p><strong>so what do you think? do you trust kenneth or not? what did you think of eric's story? REVIEW PLEASE! :)<strong>

xoxoxo


	17. Chapter 17

**so i was re-reading the other day, and i realized that i introduced a man as R.o.m.a.n and then changed it to R.o.n.a.n ... which is what i'm sticking to: RONAN=Evil vamp dude ;)**

**also... sadly this story is coming to an end :( i'm trying to stretch it out as much as possible because i really like writing this, but as far as i know there are at least two or three more chapters left... so if you want more vampire fanfic goodness from me, check out my new story "Sleeping with the Enemy" it's kind of a slow start but i promise it's going to be really great! :)**

**ENJOY this chapter :) Review what you think**

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><p>Chapter 17:<p>

_Eric's POV_

I let go of Natalie's warm embrace when her phone rang. She picked it up.

"Hello? Oh, yes I heard; I'm terribly sorry." She looked up at me. "Of course I'm going." She looked at the clock. "I can be there; it'll just take a few minutes." She hung up the phone and looked sad. "That was Kate's mom, I'm guessing you're not going to Kate's funeral." She said in a hushed voice.

"No. I'm going to go. It will help imprint in my mind that killing people is wrong. You know, leave a scar."

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah, as hard as it will be… I'll go." I told her.

"Okay, you know where Sacred Heart Church is?"

"Yeah, I'll drive." I told her. "Just let me throw some nice clothes on."

"I think I left some of my nicer ones in my car." She laughed. "Leave it to me to leave my nice clothes in my car and my crappy clothes in my closet."

"Just one of the quirks that makes me love you." I kissed her quickly.

. . .

I pulled up to the church and put the car into park. I felt Natalie's hand grab my leg. I had been zoning out so her touch made me jump.

"Sorry, Are you ready?" she asked. I took a deep breath.

"Yeah. Are you?" I answered by grabbing her hand and squeezing it.

"Yes." She responded.

Simultaneously, we got out of the car and I offered her my left arm. She took her right arm and interlocked it with mine as we walked up to the steps of the church. I felt her tug on my arm, so I bent down for her to whisper in my ear. "You're not going to burn up when you go in the church, right?" she asked sarcastically.

"No, but I wish I was." I semi-joked as we walked inside.

Mixtures of men, women, and children were sitting at pews, with tissues to their faces; I even saw a few fellow classmates. Not everyone from school was there because not every one knew about her death. Apparently, the family only invited people they knew Kate was friend's with, the others would find out about her death later in the week.

Down the isle, surrounded by bouquets of flowers, Kate's body lay in an ebony casket, pale and lifeless. Before I could do anything about it, Natalie was pulling me forward; she wanted to give her final farewells.

We waited patiently for the older woman in front of us to leave, in tears, and then we stepped up.

Kate looked peaceful. Her eyes were closed and her hair fell perfectly around her. Any human wouldn't have noticed anything wrong with her, but I could. On the side of her neck furthest away from us, I could see the small addition the morticians made. They had added latex, similar to the stuff used in movies, to cover the bite marks that both Kenneth and I had made.

Natalie's sniffling made me focus my attention from my mistake, to her. One tear fell down her cheek and I brushed it gently away with my hand.

I couldn't help myself, and before I knew it, I was crying with her. I pulled her close in embrace.

"I'm so sorry." I whispered. Her head rested on my chest and her tears soaked threw my shirt. She didn't say anything after that so I showed her back to a pew and we sat down.

The priest began to speak only after everyone had taken his or her seats.

"We gather here today, and share our common sorrow for our beloved friend, sister, neighbor and cousin, Kate Brookshire. At the young age of 18, Death came to her too soon. She will be greatly missed. Now will be the time, for those wish to, to bow their heads and send their prayers to Kate." He finished.

The room didn't fall silent, but was now filled with the sounds of sniffling noses and occasional weeps from the bereaved. I clenched my jaw keep myself from screaming out my feelings of guilt.

"I now ask Sarah Brookshire, mother of the deceased, to share her eulogy."

The whole funeral was hard for me. As a vampire, everything is heightened, including my emotions. It became like an out of body experience and before I knew it, the funeral was over. I also noticed how much I had been crying. When I finally noticed people start to stand and leave, I blinked back to reality through blurry eyes. Tears fell as I blinked them away and Natalie offered me a tissue. I took it, wiped my face, and slouched down in the pew; utterly defeated.

The rest of the day went by like that. Natalie and I went to the burial, there were tears, and I felt guilt.

Most of the crowd had left, but the immediate family, the younger sister, mother and father, stayed. They were on the opposite side of the grave and were mourning as they all hugged.

I took one red rose and threw it on the descending casket and whispered softly so only person that could possibly hear it was Natalie.

"I'm so sorry Kate. You didn't deserve this. I'll get revenge on them for making me do this to you. I promise." As I spoke Natalie's grip on me tightened.

"With both will." Natalie said to the grave.

. . .

When we came home, Natalie went to the kitchen to make drinks, and I went to the bathroom to clean up the mess. Since I drained everything out of Kate, there wasn't much blood left on the tub, but it was enough to cause concern.

Once I finished scrubbing I met Natalie back in the living room. It wasn't much, but I figured we might as well be together. Who knows how much time we have left. If our plan didn't work, my head was on the line. Ronan would have no mercy on me.

"So let's go over it." She came to the couch with a warm glass of blood. She handed it to me and I took a sip.

The only way I can describe the taste of bagged blood compared to fresh blood is it tastes stale. The same taste as old bread that had been left out to long compared to freshly baked bread. It was hard to gulf it down, like always, but it was still refreshing.

"Go over what?" I finally spoke aloud, realizing there had been a long pause between Natalie's question and my answer.

"The plan."

"Everything?"

"Yeah pretty much, it's been a while." She said.

"OK. Kenneth and I are going to go to the bar to pick out the donors."

"and by donors you mean…" she asked.

"Strippers." I stated. She chocked on her drink.

"Are you serious?" she asked, amused.

"Yeah, I know a little cliché but it's the best place to get 'donors'."

"Why?" she asked.

"Generally, girls who have to take off their clothes for a living don't have much to live for. And most of those girls are addicted to some sort of drug and abusing their bodies. As horrible as it is, we're doing them a favor." I explained. It was the same thing we've done for as long as I could remember. We would take girls and drink from them. For centuries nothing seemed wrong with that plan, but now that I was saying it out loud, I could hear how bad it _really_ was.

"That doesn't mean they deserve to die like that." Natalie said quietly.

"I know that, but it's the only option we have. Would you rather the others kill more kids from our school?" I explained to her.

"I guess you're right. So what happens after you obtain the strippers?"

"We'll have you help us inject the wolf's bane into them, it will be safer that way. Then, once we have everyone set, Kenneth and I will take the girls to the others and we'll watch them die."

"What about me? Where do I come in?" she asked. I laughed.

"_You_ are not going anywhere." I caressed her cheek.

"You don't think I can take care of myself?"

"I know you can't, not against them. Don't you remember? I told you that the first day I ever saw you."

"Then train me. Teach me how to protect myself against them."

"In one day? I don't think so."

"It's better than nothing." She protested. "Plus, you'd be surprised how many weapons I can hide in just lingerie."

"Really?" I asked curiously, crawling closer to her.

"Yepp, one wooden bullet gun, and two knifes, _which_ could be soaked in wolf's bane. There, perfect!" She said.

"None of that stuff will kill them."

"I know, but if any vamp gets out of hand…" she moved swiftly from under me, pinning me to the ground and made a movement similar to stabbing. She was lying on top of me now, straddling my hips while she held her hand in a way that made it look like she was hold a knife. "Any last words?" she asked playfully, holding her hand to my neck.

I moved more quickly than she expected me too, using my extraordinary speed against her, and now pinned her to the floor. She let out a playful squeal as she was flipped over. I now had control over her wrists; she wriggled a little and then gave up. "I'm having the strangest episode of déjà vu right now." I teased as I moved in closer to kiss her on her neck.

"Teach me how to defend myself." She said a little breathlessly from struggling.

"No, you're not going." I let go of her wrists and she sat up.

"Think of it this way: you go to the others, without a girl to drink from. Doesn't that seem a little suspicious?"

I thought about her proposal for a moment and realized she was right. If I went there, and didn't feed with them, that automatically makes me a suspect. They're not idiots; they'd sense something was up. "Fine. I'll teach you, but I don't want you to do anything unless you absolutely have to."

"Deal." She held out her hand for me to shake it. "I'm gonna be your bitch." She giggled. I rolled my eyes at her.

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><p><strong>REVIEW PLEASE! tell me what you think! and don't forget to check out my other story "Sleeping with the Enemy"<strong>


	18. Chapter 18

**so just for clarification it's still the same day, and they i have one day (today) and tomorrow until they attack the bad vamps (they're attacking 'tomorrow' night) ... i don't know if that was confusing or not, but just a reminder :)**

**also, i'm guessing 3 more chapters left in this story.. just a heads up. so if you want more vampire goodness from me then check out my other story: sleeping with the enemy :)**

**ENJOY!**

Chapter 18:

_Natalie POV_

"Come on." I stood up in a defensive position.

"Come on what?" Eric asked.

"Do you have memory loss? Show me your moves." I put up my fists and put on a playful smile. He mocked my movements and put up his fists and with a cute guy smile he added:

"Okay, but I'm warning you, it's not a fair fight."

"Yeah, you're right. I shouldn't be fighting an old man. It's just not fair." I stuck out my lip in a pout.

Before I could even comprehend, I was on the floor. I shut my eyes when I made contact and when I opened them Eric was nowhere to be found. I quickly (which was agonizingly slow compared to how a vampire moves) grabbed the lamp on the coffee table next to me. I thought I could use it as some kind of weapon.

"Ooohhhh, terrifying." I heard Eric's voice say, but I still didn't know where he was.

I turned around in circles, cautiously looking around for any sign of Eric. He wasn't in the living room, so I checked the bedroom, the bathroom, and the kitchen. I searched through the draws to find something, anything, that would be a better weapon than a lamp. Finally I came across the knife drawer. I smirked triumphantly and hid it in my belt.

"Come out, come out wherever you are." Before I made it back into the living room, a duffle bag dropped to the ground in front of me. I looked up to find Eric on the balcony on the upper level. He jumped down and landed smoothly. He lifted his hand and gestured for me to come closer.

"Bring it on." He said.

I lunged forward, taking out the knife from my belt strap. I knew fighting (and attacking) Eric would be dangerous if he were a human. One wrong move on his part and he would be dead. If he were a regular vampire I could stab him through the heart and kill him that way, but Eric's not a regular vampire. I could stab, cut, and shish kabob all I want, and he would never die; he'd heal. But that's assuming I could actually hit him. His reflexes were so fast I didn't touch him once.

He dodged my knife with ease every time I attacked. Finally, looking bored, he caught my hand by the wrist in mid swing. "How do you fight regular vampires? This is pathetic."

"Well… I—" I started making excuses. He let my hand go and shook his head. I was breathing hard from frustration and exhaustion as I watched him bend over to pick up the duffle bag he had thrown down before. He unzipped it and revealed its contents: assorted weapons. The Hunter inside of me gleamed.

"Pick one. I'll show you the best way to attack with that weapon and we'll move on to the next one." He threw the bag on the bricks of the unlit fireplace and started pushing the couch away, creating a larger arena. I followed suit and pulled the, much lighter, coffee table over to the corner. "Let's start with the knife." Quickly, he grabbed it from my hands and showed me how I should come at him. "Never go for the obvious kill, like the heart, or neck, they'll be expecting that. We weren't born yesterday." He explained. "Let's be honest. As a human, you will never be able to beat a vampire based on strength alone. They would crush you instantly. You have to be sly; attack them mentally. You have to lead them on. Make them think your doing the obvious." he walked toward me, and I watched him twirl the knife in his hand as he talked to me. "They'll focus in on that, and that's when you attack." Still twirling the knife to keep my attention, he grabbed something from his back pocket and "attacked" me with the new weapon instead. I studied his movements.

Each time he showed me what to do, he surprised me in a new way, and I always fell for the deception, even though I knew it was coming. After a while of watching I asked to try it on him. "Just so you know, I'm not _trying_ to hurt you. I just want to learn."

He chuckled. "You can't hurt me. Now, show me what you got."

I huffed out air and let the knife fall to my side. "I can't do this. It's hard."

His face had been stern while teaching me how to defend myself, but now it became soft again. His body relaxed and he walked toward me. "You're the one that wanted to go through with this. I'm the one that told you 'no'. Remember?" his hands rubbed my shoulders as if he were trying to cheer me up. I looked away from his brown eyes and ended up looking at the floor. I could feel him looking at me; forgetting what we were _really_ doing.

Now is my chance.

Before Eric could get his arms around me for a hug, I sprung into action, pushing him to the floor. I stood over him as he blinked a couple of times to comprehend what just happened. I placed my foot on his chest and leaned down, still pressing him to the floor, and threatened him with the blade. "Any last words?" I said, smiling as I repeated the lines to him.

"You cheated. I thought you were sad. I was worried."

"No I didn't. I just made you _believe_ that was how I was feeling." I smirked. He sighed as I got off of him and helped pull him up. He dusted off his pants and looked back up at me.

"You know, you may stand a better chance against the vamps than I originally thought." He mused.

I put my hands on my hips proudly. "That's right." I said.

Eric laughed a little. "What I'm trying to say is we are from a different time than you. Back when we were human, woman were not equal with men. They were only thought useful for child bearing and pleasing men's needs."

"Your point?" I said, almost taking offense to what Eric was telling me.

"My point is that they won't see you as equal; as a threat. And that doubles when they realize you're human. They don't treat humans as equals either; they think humans are on earth only to be their source of food."

"Glad to know they'll think of me so highly." I sarcastically added.

Eric rolled his eyes. "That means you'll be able to take advantage of them and attack, _but only if it's absolutely necessary_. Kenneth and I should be able to take care of any stranglers." He emphasized the last part.

"Okay. Sounds like a plan."

. . .

The sky grew orange as we continued to practice, and we had to stop every once and a while from my exhaustion and to turn a light or two. Sweat was dripping down my forehead as I dodged and lunged. Eric and I took turns being the attacker, and by the end of the night I felt confident that I could take down any vampire that came my way.

He pulled the couch back in place and I collapsed into it. He followed suit. "I don't think I'm ever going to be able to move again." I noted how much of a work out it was for me to keep up with Eric's vampire strength, and how easy it was for him to beat me; he barely broke a sweat. Very un-girl-like, I sniffed my armpits. "Ewe, I need a shower."

Eric laughed at me, mostly likely because of the pit sniff. He got up. "You know... I need one too."

I smiled when I realized what he meant. He wanted to shower _with me_. "Okay." I gushed. "But you have to promise a truce." I joked as I pointed a finger at him.

"Yes. Truce." He said as he followed me into the bathroom.

Everything was dark since the sun had gone down, so I had to put out my hands to try and orient myself. Of course Eric had no problem with seeing in the dark, so he walked ahead into his master bedroom, and then into the bathroom, that was attached to turn on a light for me. He popped his head around the corner of the lit room. "Coming?" he asked.

"Yeah." I said a little hesitantly. I don't know what I was expecting in the bathroom, but I had to prep myself before I went in. Maybe I though I would see Kate's dead body laying lifelessly in the tub, but when I walked in, it was spotless.

The bathroom was as elegant as I could remember. The bathtub wasn't really a tub, it was more of a Jacuzzi, and the counters around it, as well as by the sink, were grey granite with silver specks. I ran my fingers across the smooth surface.

I heard the water turn on and I turned my head to see Eric in the huge walk-in shower. It was framed with dark tiles that mimicked the granite countertops, and there were not only one, but three nozzle heads, along with the ones that seemed to be spraying steam from all sides. The entrance to the shower was to my left and I was facing a wall that separated Eric and I. Half of it was the same tile that covered the rest of the shower (a little taller than waist height) and the rest, to the ceiling, was glass.

I looked at Eric through the steamy window and he turned to look at me. His wet black hair was falling into his eyes. He walked closer to the glass and started writing something in it.

COMING? He wrote. I smiled and nodded my head, as I got undressed. Eric went back under the flow of water and didn't seem to notice I joined him. The warm water felt so good against my body, easing up all of my tense muscles from today. I sighed in relief. "This is so nice."

Eric's hands found my shoulders and he started to rub. It was strange feeling, his strong hands on my bare skin, because for once they weren't cold; they were warm. It must be from the water.

"No matter what happens tomorrow night, this is how I want to remember you, and this is how I want you to remember me; peaceful."

"In love." I added as I turned around to face him. He curved up his lips to reveal his beautiful smile.

"Yeah, in love." He said and then he kissed me. I walked into his warm, strong embrace and engraved it into my memory. This was a special night i had to remember.

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><p><strong>So what do you think? Let me know by REVIEWING PLEASE :D<strong>


	19. Chapter 19

**the reason behind this quick update is because i had two snow days in a row! and tomorrow (friday) i have school off, so i litterly have nothing to do except study... but who does that? **

**enjoy this chapter :)**

**let me know what you think!**

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><p>Chapter 19:<p>

All I knew was I was in bed, with Eric, my hair never dried from our shower together, and I was naked. The damp sheets—I guess we didn't even dry off before coming into bed—were tucked under my armpit and I was lying on my side, facing Eric. He was lying on his back, his eyes closed, his hair tousled, with the sheet covering only half of his body. Clearly he the cool winter air, that I felt when I didn't have sheets covering me, didn't bother him. I moved closer to him so that my head was resting on his shoulder and took in a deep breath and inhaled his sweet scent. His smell was a mix of the woods, his shampoo, and that homey smell that always seems to radiate from guys.

I took my finger and traced it along his muscles. He must have been awake because his lips curved up into a smile, but his eyes remained shut. As I continued to trace my finger over his abdomen he laughed.

"That tickles." He said with his eyes open now.

I smiled along with him. "I think I found another weakness of yours." I said playfully.

He rolled away from my hand and sped away as he disappeared into the giant closet. When he came back out he was only wearing a pair of black sweat pants that said Michigan State University in green lettering down the side.

"Did you even go to college?" I asked.

"Define _go to college._ I've been on campus, but I never really went for school. I was a party boy back in the day." He stretched out his arms, which made his muscles tense, and then relax. "I'm too cool for school." Then, changing the subject, he added: "Do you want something to eat?"

"Sure. Just cereal is fine."

Eric left the room to get food for me, and blood for him. As soon as I was sure he was gone, I ventured into the closet to look for something to wear. I decided on an old grey high school sweater that said "West Field High, Class of '83" I laughed as I put it on. _Too cool for school huh?_ Looks like Eric had gone to high school plenty of times. The sweater fell to my mid-thigh and it was no shorter than any skimpy dress.

I was making my way down the hallway, to the kitchen, when the doorbell rang. I turned to my left to see a figure standing on the porch. I walked down the stairs and opened the door.

"You're still here?" Kenneth asked.

"Yes. So nice to see you again." I added sarcastically. I noticed he drove here in a large van. The windows were tinted but I could definitely see movement inside.

"Is Eric here?" He asked, his eyes moving suggestively downward toward my bare legs.

I nodded my head to point to the upstairs. "He's making breakfast."

"What do you want Kenneth?" Eric called from the kitchen.

"I've got the girls. I though they could crash here until we're ready." Kenneth responded in a totally normal volume. It was weird thinking that they could hear each other perfectly even though they were in different rooms.

"You could have at least called." I heard Eric's voice come closer. He wrapped his unclothed arm over my shoulders and stared at Kenneth. Kenneth's smile grew in understanding.

"I'm sorry I interrupted your _moment_, but we've got bigger fish to fry." he said with forced sympathy.

"Now's not a good time. Can't we just handle this later? We have all day." Eric explained.

"No."

Eric started shutting the door. I held my hand up and stopped him from shutting it completely.

"He's right, we don't even have the wolf's bane from Anthony yet. Who knows how long it will take to get ready. We better be safe than sorry." I stated.

Eric's jaw clenched and unclenched. "Fine. I'll go get the supplies, but that means you two have to stay here."

"But—" Kenneth and I said at the same time. Eric ran away to put on a shirt, and then he grabbed his keys.

"I won't be gone any longer than an hour. Help each other out, and try not to kill each other." I gave Eric a pleading look and he kissed me quickly. "Play nice." He added. I watched him drive away in his smooth black car and wished I could be with him; my trust with Kenneth isn't exactly 100%.

I watched Kenneth walk down to the van and open the door. I watched about 15 girls pile out, and he pointed to me, and they all came walking, in heels, toward the house.

"Where do you want us?" a blonde came up and asked me. I'm not going to say she was ugly, but she was not necessarily gorgeous. She was pretty, but still messed up in a 'I do drugs' sort of way. It didn't matter what she looked like, she still made me feel self-consious for wearing a baggy old sweatshirt.

"Um, the basement is fine. There's a bar and a TV down there, knock yourselves out." I pointed to the door that led to the basement and I watched every girl walk sown the steps. From the below, I heard girls laughing and giggling, one even called out for Kenneth to come down. "Ugh." I slammed the door shut. "How do people not realize when fifteen girls are missing?" I asked him.

"I'm not stupid, they're not all from the same place. Some of them I even got out of state. No one will know there are gone." He invited himself upstairs, and I followed him. "I almost forgot, I got you a gift." He held out the paper bag in his hand.

When I opened it I saw a red wig, and matching red lingerie and corset. "Ha ha. Funny."

"What? Red is Eric's favorite color. I though you wanted to look the part."

I groaned when I realized he was right. "Okay, so what's the wig for?"

"I recognized you the moment I saw you, granted it took me a while to figure it out, but it should keep anyone from noticing who you really are. You _did_ try and attack us once, did you not?"

"I hate it that you're right." I put everything back in the bag. I grabbed the cereal off the counter, that Eric had gotten out, and walked past Kenneth to grab the milk out of the refrigerator.

"You would be willing to let me—"

"No!" I answered before he could finish asking.

"Come on. I'm going to need blood to protect your pretty face." He reached out a hand to caress my face.

"Touch me one more time, and I we'll see who has the pretty face." I threatened.

He chuckled darkly at my small hint of saying he was handsome. "I love being an eternal stud." He looked into the shiny silver of the refrigerator door. Yes, I do admit he was gorgeous. That was probably how he was able to lure in girls so easily.

I rolled my eyes at him and shoved a blood bag at his chest. "You'll drink this, or nothing."

"I'd rather starve than drink this nasty low-fat, soy, vegan blood."

"Stop being so dramatic." I told him as I walked over the barstools.

Kenneth finally gave in and stuck the bag into the microwave. "You don't like me very much, do you?" he ruminated.

"What was your first clue?" I asked with a mouth full of cereal. The microwave beeped and he poured the think scarlet liquid into a glass and took a long drink.

"Ahh. You know, if I don't think about it, it's not half bad." He took another drink. His eyes tinted red and he looked like he was enjoying myself.

"You really love being a vampire don't you?" I twirled my phone over the countertop nervously, waiting for Eric to text me saying he was on his way home.

"What makes you say that, Buffy?" He smiled mischievously. "Yeah, I guess you could say that. I hate being part of their clan, but I love that I got to see the world change before me." he grabbed my phone. "A thousand years ago, no one would have even thought it was possible to be able to talk to someone that was miles away from you. Technology, music, politics; I've seen it all. It's beautiful, really." For the first time, I was seeing who Kenneth really was, it was just hiding behind all of the vampire/male bravado. I was seeing the man that Eric trusted, and that I know trusted.

Eric came through the door and walked upstairs to meet us, he was carrying a box of glass bottles and syringes. "It's nice to see you both in one piece." He looked at both of us somberly. "Ready?"

"Yeah." I followed everyone down to the basement.

"Okay, good." Eric looked around and seemed to inspect all of the girls. "Anthony gave me enough wolf's bane for twenty people." Eric set the box on the bar counter.

The girls were either lying on the couches, or playing pool. Kenneth grabbed a brunette that had glitter extensions and lake-blue eyes. Eric handed me a glass vile and syringe. I poked the need in a sucked up 15 milliliters.

"You weren't kidding. That is rancid stuff." Kenneth wrinkled his nose.

"We better let it diffuse in the blood stream so it's less noticeable. That way when they _do_ notice,"

"It will be too late." Kenneth finished Eric's thought. They shared a look.

"So where should I inject this? If I do it on their arm they might notice."

"Just do it under the arm." Eric said quickly as if he was trying to get me to get rid of smell as soon as I could. I pinched the fat – what was left of it—and stuck the needle into the girl's arm. She didn't flinch; she was compelled not to.

"One down, fourteen to go." I said as I wiped the little blood droplet that formed under her arm.

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><p><strong>Let me know what you think of this chapter :) Review please! i love reading reviews xoxo<strong>


	20. Chapter 20

**wow, 20 chapters... almost finished. 2 more (at least)**

**i hope you guys like this one :) don't forget to let me know**

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><p>Chapter 20:<p>

We – meaning I – finished injecting all of the girls when the old clock that Eric had upstairs rang 5 times, indicating 5 o'clock at night. Since it was winter, and since it was Michigan, the sun was already going down. I looked outside the windowpane style doors and looked at the smooth waves of yellow and orange. The small icicles reflected the yellow sun and dropped glistening balls of water down.

"Natalie?" Eric touched my arm and it knocked me out of my peaceful daze.

"Sorry. What did you say?"

"Kenneth and I are going to head back upstairs. Are you coming?" he asked. I glanced over to see Kenneth leaning a shoulder against the wall next to the staircase and talking to a thin blonde. She was laughing and he had a crooked smile plastered on. I recognized her as the one girl we didn't inject with wolf's bane. We left her out because, unfortunately, Kenneth needed to be alive, and not coughing up blood.

"Yeah that sounds good, but are you sure Kenneth wants to come?" I asked. Eric looked over his shoulder at the Kenneth and smiled.

"He'll come, he's just buttering her up." Eric chuckled a bit.

"Buttering her up?"

"Yeah you know like… feeing the pigs before… You know what, it doesn't matter." Eric shrugged it off. Flustered, I walked over to Kenneth, grabbed him by the shoulders and pushed him up the stairs so the blonde couldn't hear me.

"You're going to kill her? That's not the plan. You're supposed to drink from her, push her to the side and kill everyone else, not her." I pointed a finger at him. _God, I felt like my mom._

"Who said I was going to kill her?" he asked as his eyes shot up in Eric's direction. "You know, she's kind of grown on me, and I wasn't planning on killing her, but if you insist…" Kenneth turned to move back, but I stopped him. Obviously he didn't protest because he could have blown past me with out a second thought.

"What are you saying?" I asked.

"I think I might like her. She wants to see Italy." His smile grew. "I need a project to keep me occupied once Ronan is gone." He mused in the blonde's direction.

"You're joking right?" I asked him. It felt like my mouth was hanging open.

"No."

"Okay," Eric interrupted. "let's head upstairs. Kenneth, we need to leave in 30."

Kenneth nodded his head and leaned against wall again.

"Did you just see that?" I asked Eric. "Kenneth… _likes _her? I didn't even know that was possible?" I added with a little skip in my step. Eric laughed at my girly quirks.

"Neither did I, but let's wait and see how it plays out. He still has to drink from her, and Kenneth doesn't necessarily have a great history with keeping people alive."

"I don't know… he was talking about a future with her, how often has _that_ happened?" I shrugged my shoulders. Eric gave me a doubtful look. I guess he would know, he_ has_ known Kenneth longer.

Eric was about a head taller than I was, so I had to tilt my chin up to smirk at him.

"What?" he asked.

"I bet you 10 bucks she and him stick trough it." I said.

"You think Kenneth _won't _kill her?"

"I don't think he's going to, no."

"Fine. It's a deal." He stuck out his hand for me to shake.

"I can't believe I'm betting on a life." I shook my head back and forth, laughing at myself, and took Eric's hand.

He and I walked over the counter top and I noticed the paper bag of goodies Kenneth had brought earlier. I snatched it quickly so Eric couldn't see its contents.

"What's in there?" he snuck a curious glance. I rolled up the top of the bag.

"Nothing. Just a… uh, disguise." I explained. "We're leaving in 30 minutes?"

"Yeah?" he responded. I looked down at the bag and had an internal debate.

"Perfect, that's just enough time." I said as I walked away to the bathroom.

"Enough time for what?" Eric yelled.

"You'll see." I called back, half scared; half excited to see myself dressed up.

I walked into the Eric's bathroom. I've been in here so many times, but it still fascinated me with its elegance.

I opened the paper bag slowly and it crinkled in response. I dared myself to look inside again, and the same red wig and red lingerie was there. I pulled them out, piece by piece, and placed everything on the counter.

I nodded my head to help persuade myself to go with it. "I can do this." I repeated to myself. I took off my clothes and replaced them with the ruffled shorts and corset. The shorts we more like panties, but they still covered the bare minimum. The corset was red with black lace around the breasts and bottom.

Next was the make-up. Thankfully, Kenneth was generous enough to grab the basics from the stripper bars. I covered up my flaws, threw on some dark eyeliner and mascara, and finished it up with a smokey eye. I was pretty impressed with myself.

I tied my hair back in a ponytail, put the hair net on to catch any fly-aways, and put the red wig on. Its soft curls landed softly on my back.

"Holy Shit." Was all I could say when I stepped away from the mirror. I could not recognize myself. No matter how long I looked at the stranger in the mirror, I couldn't see myself there; hopefully the other vampires wouldn't notice either.

When I walked out I saw Kenneth herding the last of the girls out the door and he turned around to see me.

"Hey, come on, I told you to—" his eyes grew. "Holy shit, Buffy!"

I giggled. "My reaction exactly." I turned to see Eric standing there in the way of the kitchen, his mouth agape. "I heard you like red." I said in my best seductive voice.

"Umm…"

"Close your mouth." I touched his chin. "It isn't polite to stare." I turned and sashayed away from him and into the car.

. . .

Outside, it was dark, and cold, but both my body and eyes adjusted quickly. It was part of my Hunter instinct to adapt.

I could feel my heart beating so fast it felt like it was going to burst out of my chest any second.

"You okay?" Eric squeezed my hand. I glanced around nervously and watched Kenneth talk to each of girls about a group of guys that couldn't wait to meet them. They squealed. I rolled my eyes. They had no idea what they were walking in to. I turned back to Eric.

"Yeah." I grabbed the two knifes, previously dunked in wolf's bane, that I snuck in the car's glove box. I put a small covering over them – to protect my skin – and hid then in my lingerie.

"Don't worry, I'll protect you." Eric hugged me closer. I breathed in his masculine, homey scent and it calmed me. "Ready?" he called to Kenneth, making his chest vibrate under my head.

As we walked deeper into the woods I was forced to keep up with Eric's quick strides. He noticed me struggling in the heels and he slowed down.

His face was hard and his jaw was clenched. Obviously he wanted to be there about as much as I did. He moved his hand from mine and snaked it around my waste to accommodate for the image we both had to obtain.

We walked into a clearing. There they were. Waiting.

The taller one that I now knew as Ronan looked just like Eric. He had dark black hair and dark eyes, but that's where the similarities stopped. Just being near him gave me goose bumps. He sent out a bad vibe; I could feel it. His straight eyebrows curved together in confusion as he watched us walk nearer.

"Eric, I didn't expect you so soon." He curved his lips up and for some reason he reminded me of a snake. Maybe it was the way he spoke. Maybe it was the way his piercing eyes were looking up and down my body.

"Well we were both hungry, so we assumed you guys were as well." Kenneth explained confidently, with the blonde attached to his hip. I heard the rest of the group mumble their responses in agreement. Ronan chuckled darkly and it sent shivers down my spine.

"Looks like you two have your dinner already picked out?"

"Well, next time you can come with us and then _you_ can get first pick." Eric retorted. "I'll hold you to that offer." Ronan slithered forward and picked out the brunette with the glitter in her hair. That must have permitted the rest of them to claim their girls because they came forward as well. Some walked at a human pace. Some ran forward in a blur, bringing the girls back with them.

They were spread out through out the clearing, giving each other space, but they didn't drink from their girls just yet. I could only describe it as cult-like spacing. What were they waiting for?

"Eric, Kenneth, you brought our dinner tonight," his voiced hinted at suspicion, like we suspected. "Why don't you go first?"

"We'd love to." Kenneth said as he bit into blondie's neck. She winced a little at first, but then accepted the bite. I was so focused on watching Kenneth, that Eric's bite shocked me. I sucked in air. I could feel Ronan watching us and I continued to wince in 'pain' as Eric drank, but he wasn't hurting me, it felt good again.

After a few seconds, Ronan seemed to trust us and he bit into the brunette. She screamed. Her scream was followed by other screams and gasps around us. _That's right. _I thought. _Drink all of it._

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><p><em><em>**so? what do you think? let me know! i love reviews :)**


	21. Chapter 21

**So you can skip this AN, or you can read it, because it's really funny. it may not be that funny, but i thought it was.. it was early in the morning so maybe i was just really tired... ANYWAY HERE IT IS: **

**my first hour is forensic science, and we just got a new schedule in my school (so i haven't always had forensics first hour) and coincidentally the forensic's teacher is the same person that i have for chemistry (if you recall, Natalie has chem first hour...) and so we are talking about murders and crime scenes and stuff (because it's forensic science a.k.a crime scene investigation)... and my teacher pulls down the screen for the projector and guess what she (no, Anthony is not based off of my chem teacher..) pulls up on the screen... A STORY ABOUT A LOCAL MURDERER! we were getting background info about him for the class, but still, crazy right? just like what i wrote! (Chapter 3) OMG i was like i. am. physic. so that's my story...**

**Enjoy this chapter :) the end was inspired by the song Shadow of the Day by Linkin Park. i was listening to it one day and decided it would go great with what i was thinking about writing. So if you want to listen to it, when i mention it, you can... to _set the mood_ or whatever...**

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><p>Chapter 21:<p>

The vampires took the bait. They were drinking from the girls that we injected with wolf's bane. They were going to die. It couldn't be this easy. It's never this easy. But it was; no one suspected a thing.

I felt Eric slowly lift his mouth from my neck so he could get a better view of the vampires. His eyes flicked back and forth, intently surveying every single move they made.

One quick look over my shoulder showed me that Kenneth stopped drinking from the blonde, and she was standing limply against him. I'm sure if he weren't there to help support her, she would have collapsed onto the ground. He must've taken more from her, than Eric took from me because I felt fine. I was ready to fight; just a little light headed. No big deal.

The sound of coughing drew my attention away from Kenneth and back to the vampires. A tall, skinny, vampire with brown hair fell to the earth, clutching his throat. The girl he had been feeding from was lying lifelessly next to him. He began dry heaving and coughing more, and soon, more vampires joined in the chorus of coughs.

Granted my smelling was not as good as Eric's or Kenneth's, but I could still pick out the familiar stench of iron—from the blood. My nose crinkled in disgust and I tried not to look directly at any of the dying vampires, whenever I did, they looked like they were looking at me for help. They were probably only looking at me because I was a source of blood; a source of something they needed dearly in order to survive.

I looked back at the skinny, brown-haired vampire that fell first. The bloodstained grass covered half of his face. His eyes open, and red, and a halo-like pool of blood surrounded his body.

There were several other bodies already on the ground now, and the others were coughing, and throwing up so much that they couldn't do anything to save themselves, or attack us.

The last vampire to start coughing was Ronan. I guess it makes sense though; he was one of the more powerful vampires, so he would be the last to get the effects from the wolf's bane. He noticed his following fall all around him. He stopped drinking. The girl he was feeding from was still alive when he pushed her to the ground in an angry snarl.

He knew about the assassination attempt—well not _attempt_; success—and he did not like it.

"You." Ronan growled at Eric and Kenneth. His eyes were the same color red as the blood on his face. His fangs were bared and he looked even more intimidating now than ever before. But something was off. He wobbled in his strides to Eric, and he looked weakened. The wolf's bane worked, but he didn't drink enough of it. He wasn't going to die.

Before Ronan ever reached Eric, he crumpled in to a heap on the ground. He clutched his stomach, coughed twice, and spat out the blood that ventured up into his mouth. He looked up at us with red-hot vengeance burning in his eyes.

"Wolf's bane." Eric explained even though Ronan never asked. There was a cocky smile on his face. Eric's tone was condescending and there was a definite '_ha-ha, got you_!' implied, as well.

"You are going," More coughing. "to die." Ronan threatened between spits of blood.

"Not if you die first." Kenneth mocked. Ronan became furious and it took everything in his power to stand up. In a blur, he rushed past Eric and me and clutched Kenneth's neck as he pushed him against a tree, knocking the blonde to the ground. Kenneth laughed as he was pinned against the tree; obviously thinking Ronan wasn't going to kill him, not in this state anyway.

"I'm not going to be the one dying today." Ronan hissed. More blood was coughed out of his mouth, and his powerful stance diminished. Even in his weakened state, he threw Kenneth across the field like a rag doll.

Ronan turned to Eric next. I've never seen a vampire look so cruel before, and I've seen plenty of malicious vampires in my Hunting experience. Ronan bent his legs to lunge forward at Eric and me, but Kenneth's blur of a body knocked him to the side, pinning him the ground. I watched them wrestle. Kenneth tried to keep Ronan down, and Ronan tried to kill Kenneth so he could ultimately come and kill Eric.

My hand reached down to grab the knife, and I felt cold hands on my bare shoulders. Eric turned me to face him. "Let me go. I need to help Kenneth." I explained as I struggled to break free from Eric's iron grip.

"No. You'll only get yourself killed." Eric's voice was soft, yet panicky. I looked back at the blur of the two vampires fighting. It was mesmerizing how they moved, fast and deadly, yet graceful. "Natalie, look at me."

I peeled my eyes away from the captivating dance and looked at Eric's brown eyes. They looked sad and worried. In that one second, I thought about _us_. We may not make it out alive. Ronan, in his weakened state, was almost stronger than Kenneth, who had just fed. Now I was scared, for both of us.

My body moved before my mind registered what was happening. My lips found Eric's and I kissed him, long and hard. "I love you." I said, my eyes tearing up. Once again I tried for my knife. I was not going to die, at least not with out a fight, but Eric stopped me. He pulled my chin so I was looking into his eyes again.

"Don't fight him." Eric told me. _What? Don't fight whom? Who is Eric-? _

My mind went blank. My body relaxed. Eric's pupils had expanded quickly and then returned to normal. Everything I had been worried about had vanished. All I knew was I couldn't fight _him. _That's what Eric ordered me to do. He wrapped his hands around both of my cheeks and kissed me on the forehead, and then looked over my shoulder to give a nod.

Cold hands found my waist, but they weren't Eric's cold, familiar hands, they were someone else's. They were pulling me away from Eric. _No! _My mind screamed, but my body didn't react. _I can't fight him_. The words echoed in my mind.

I looked at Eric one last time before the man took me away, and he looked defeated, old, worried, and apologetic. He looked directly into my eyes for what seemed like an eternity and soon enough he was no longer my teenage boy crush, he was now the dangerous vampire, who was out for blood.

I turned away to see who was carrying me away, but I was too late. The man flung me over his shoulder and sped away of the clearing, far, far away. The further away from Eric I went, the more I wanted to scream and fight my way away from the person that was carrying me. The man opened a car door and plopped me into the passenger seat. He struggled to get my seatbelt on because I kept pushing is arms away. Eventually his strength overpowered me and he clicked it into place. By the time I unbuckled, the door was shut and locked. I tried several times to open it. No luck. Frustrated, I looked up at him and screamed, "Let me go! I have to go back and save him!" I pounded my hands against the glass. By the time I stopped to let myself breath, and cry, I recognized who was in front of me: Anthony Evans.

He used his vampire speed to run around to the driver's side of the car, unlock the car, open the door, get in, and locked it before I could even react. He grabbed a large sweatshirt from the backseat and gave it to me. He started the car. His face hard and his eyebrows were crunched in worry.

"What are you doing? We have to go back there! They need help! Eric—" I rambled on.

Anthony sped away—faster than any human should drive—from the gravel parking lot and took the ramp that led to the expressway.

"Turn this car around now! I don't think Eric is going to make it. We can't leave him there!"

"I know!" Anthony finally spoke up. "I know." He repeated, more quietly this time. "But we can't. That's not what he wanted." The car's engine hummed in the silence that hung around us.

"What do you mean 'that isn't what he wanted'?" I asked, finally taking off the red wig.

Anthony's eyes concentrated on the road but his expression told me that he was debating whether or not he should tell me what he knows. "When Eric came to get the wolf's bane from me, he came up with a plan. He told me to follow you two to meet with the others, and in the event where you were in trouble I would take you out of harm's way."

"But I wasn't in danger. Ronan wasn't attacking me. They need _my_ help, I learned how to fight—"

"Natalie, you don't understand. Eric taught you everything about fighting vampires, but you would never be able to pull the same trick on_ those _vampires. They've seen everything; nothing fools them anymore. You would have gotten yourself killed."

"But Eric said it would work…" my voice trailed off.

"He lied. He said he wouldn't want to go on living if he didn't have you. _You _need to live; _you _have a life ahead of you. He doesn't. He's a frozen teenager. If only one of you made it out alive, he wanted it to be you."

"And you just listened to him? No questions asked? We just left him alone on a suicide mission!" I flung my arms out in frustration.

"I tried to convince him of another way, but we settled on this." Anthony sighed heavily. "This is _his_ fight. He needs to finish it on his own. If he lives, he said he would meet up with us."

"How does he know where we are going?"

"We already talked about that too."

"So… where are we going?" I asked.

"I can't tell you." Anthony focused his eyes back on the black road. "Try and get some sleep. I'll wake you when we get there." He said as he turned the radio station to one I was used to. As soon as the radio host was done talking, the stereo eased into "Shadow of the Day" by Linkin Park. I leaned my head against the cold window, pulled the jacket over my shoulders, and closed my eyes. Once again, I felt myself crying. Why do slow songs always have to make me cry? Of course it didn't help that my boyfriend is sacrificing himself to save me…

I sighed one more time and eventually drifted off to a restless sleep.

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><p><strong>What do you think? Let me know! i heart reviews!<strong>


	22. Chapter 22

**FINAL CHAPTER! :( Thank you to everyone who has read this! Make sure you check out my other stories, and stay tuned for another "original" vampire related story.. not sure on the name yet but make sure you keep an eye out. Thanks again for sticking through until the end. Please make sure you review!**

** ENJOY**

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><p>Chapter 22:<p>

I woke up and I was still in the car with Anthony. My neck ached and my forehead was dented from leaning against the window. I winced in pain as I stretched my neck out, and then I cupped my hand around to massage it.

Over the horizon, and over the dashboard, I could see gorgeous colors of pink, orange and purple. Sunrise. We drove all night.

I looked at the landscape for any clues, but we were still on the expressway, and no matter where you are, the expressway ALWAYS looks the same.

"Where are we?" I yawned.

"A small town in Indiana." Anthony said coolly.

"Indiana!"

"What else do you expect? I've been driving for 9 hours."

"Ugh." Just him saying I've been in the same uncomfortable position for nine hours made my neck ach even more.

"Don't worry, we'll be at our destination in 10 minutes."

"Great." I pulled down the mirror and the bright light shined into my eyes and I squinted in response. I looked at the stranger in the mirror. I knew it was me, but it didn't look like me. My hair was a mess, with frizz everywhere, my eyes were puffy, I was ungodly pale, and I had the worst raccoon eyes. Quickly I scrapped the dried mascara from under my eyes and tapped my cheeks to return some life to them.

Anthony had pulled off the expressway and then onto another small side road. We drove for a ways, but never passed a single building. The land was flat and piles of brown snow lay on the side of the road. After a few moments, Anthony turned his blinker on and turned into a gravel parking lot.

The sign was green and was chipping in some spots. The dirty white lettering read: CAMELOT MOTEL, and the read neon letter read: vacancy. This is our secret hiding place? This is where Eric wanted me to stay?

"I'll be right back." Anthony stepped out of the car and shut the door behind him. He jogged slightly to the cabin where the office was located, and stepped inside.

I fiddled my thumbs as I waited and checked my phone periodically. No messages, no missed calls. I waited a little longer. My impatience was growing and I craned my neck around to try and look inside the office. I saw Anthony still standing at the desk, counting cash.

My phone vibrated. My pulse spiked but when I looked at the caller i.d., but I was disappointed.

"Hi mom." I said pinching the bridge of my nose.

"Honey, where are you? Are you okay?" she panicked.

"I'm fine." I interrupted her nervous rambling. "I'm safe."

"Good, good. Your father and I ended up coming home earlier than we planned, and we didn't see you at home so we figured you were in the woods. But we got out here and didn't see you. Then we found the bodies—"

"Bodies!" I tried to seem like I didn't know what was happening, but I didn't have to fake it. I had no idea what was happening, or happened, in those woods. "How many?"

"Both vampires and humans combined…" she seemed like she was counting. She must be in the woods right now. "Twenty, maybe? Why?"

"No reason." Twenty. I know there were fifteen girls and about ten vampires including Eric, Kenneth, and Ronan. If there were twenty bodies that means Eric and the other two are somewhere else. Not alive, not dead, but missing.

I felt the car shift and the door open as Anthony stepped inside. He looked at me with a confused expression that said _Who's that?_

"My parents." I covered up the microphone and whispered. "They found twenty bodies."

His expression perked. "You think they got out?"

I shrugged my shoulders and went back into the conversation. My mom had been rambling about where I was and I assured her I was safe with Eric.

"Eric. That boy from school? When do we get to meet him?" she asked. Once you get past the hard Hunter exterior, my mom could be a total girl. She loved talking about boys in particular.

"Um, later. Hey, mom, I have to go." I didn't give any more details. My mom told me she loved me, I said it back, and shoved the phone back into the sweatshirt I was wearing.

Anthony pulled up to an off green painted door with a gold number 4 screwed onto it. He got out of the car and opened the room with a key, not a card like in modern hotels, but a metal key. The door creaked as he opened it. The moment I stepped in I smelled the old furniture and musty smell that seemed to thicken the air. I looked around at the tan wallpapered walls and the matching floral quilt.

The silence was first broken from a moan about two doors down; I couldn't help but break I smile, Anthony chuckled a little too.

"You better change into these before that guy comes in here and gets the wrong idea." Anthony threw a small duffle bag at me. When I opened it I saw my familiar clothing inside—an old high school tee, and a pair of jeans. I looked down at the skimpy clothing I was currently wearing.

"Yeah, that sounds like a really good idea."

. . .

It was 9:47 at night. I watched the old clock flip a tile indicating it to be true. Anthony had stripped down to his blue jeans and grey tee. I had given him back his sweatshirt, but he didn't wear it. He was playing with the bunny ears on top of the television, but no matter where he positioned them the picture still came in fuzzy. He finally gave up and rested next to me on the bed. We both watched the unclear football game, but neither of us was interested.

"Do you think Eric is dead?" I asked while I was still staring at the TV.

"I don't know, but I think I would know if he was."

"What do you mean?"

"It's an urban legend, but it says that a vampire can feel when their maker dies."

"Woah, woah, woah, back up. Maker?"

"Yeah, maker; the vampire that makes another person a vampire." He looked at me with a confused look. "Eric never told you?"

Slowly, I put all of the pieces together. "Eric turned you?"

Anthony nodded. "He did." He shifted a little before he continued on with his story. "I was just returning home. I had a leave from the war—I healed soldiers all over Europe—and it was my first return home since I had left. When I arrived at home, my wife, and children, were dead. The house was torn apart, and it wasn't until I entered the kitchen did I find my youngest daughter crying underneath a table."

"Eric did that didn't he? He told me. He never mentioned it was your family."

"It was. When I reached my daughter she gripped onto me as if her life was at stake, but Eric ripped her away from me. For a moment he looked at her like he wasn't going to kill her, but he did. I watched him kill her right in front of me. I pleaded for him to kill me; I couldn't stand living without my family."

"So he turned you." I finished his thought.

"He did just the opposite of my wishes." Anthony corrected. "I wanted to die so I could be with my family, but instead Eric turned me into a vampire; an immortal being that would never be able to see his family again." Anthony looked miserable as he retold the story.

"Eric did all of that? I knew Eric had a terrible past, but he never went into detail." I knew he had changed, so I tried not to let it get to me. "How did you ever forgive him?"

Anthony cocked his head to the side. "I don't think I ever truly have, but all the years we've spent together has made me forgive him. He has told me time and time again how sorry he is for that night. He has become part of my family. Eric has good in him, I know it. I just happened to meet him as he was transitioning."

I slouched down and sighed as I leaned my head against Anthony's shoulder. "Eternity is a long time if you have to spend it alone." He said softly.

"I couldn't imagine." I was staring off at the television when there was a knock at the door. Anthony and I shared a look as we both got up to walk by the door.

Anthony opened it and we found Kenneth standing there with the blonde girl in his arms. Neither of us said anything, but Kenneth let himself in anyway.

He set the unconscious blonde on the bed. I watched carefully to make sure her chest was rising and falling; it was.

Anthony brought out a portable cooler and opened it. Without hesitation, Kenneth took one of the blood bags and ripped it open, sucking out its contents. After he quenched his thirst, and caught his breath, I started asking questions.

"Where's Eric?" I meant for my voice to sound confident, but it came out squeaky and quiet. Kenneth's head lifted, he looked beaten and defeated.

"He told me to leave."

"What is it about Eric that makes everyone want to obey his commands so easily?" I threw my hands up in the air in frustration.

"Maybe they have faith in me."

I spun myself around to face the door. What I saw almost dropped me to my knees, but instead I flung myself into Eric's arms. He staggered back a few steps from the force of the impact, and he left out an _oof!_ I pulled him close and kissed him. I let my tongue venture into his mouth and I could taste blood. I pulled away and finally looked at Eric.

His lip was busted; blood was stained on his chin, neck and shirt, which was ripped in multiple places, and his neck and arms had bite marks and abrasions all along them. No wonder I taster blood; he was a complete wreck.

I wanted to slap him. "You're so stupid!" I kissed him again. "Don't ever do that again."

"I won't have to. Ronan is gone."

"How? He didn't drink all of the wolf's bane."

"Well, that gave me an advantage, and it turns out that it's hard for vampires to heal themselves when they are in several different places at once… an burning." Eric said both humorously and gravely.

"He's really gone?"

"Yes. All of them." he hugged me close. "I'm so sorry, but I couldn't be worrying about you. I needed to know you were safe."

"You could have at least told me."

Eric smiled. "They would have known something was up. Oh, and before I forget." Eric pushed something into my pocket, winked, and walked to join Kenneth in drinking blood. Confused, I reached in my jeans and pulled out a ten-dollar bill.

"And you doubted me. _Tisk, tisk_." Kenneth smiled crookedly and then quickly went back to drinking the blood packets. He kept his donor alive this whole time; he didn't kill her.

I watched Eric as he drank the blood, and I took a seat close to him. I didn't want to be far away from him, not when I was so close to losing him. I watched his cuts heal. The worst of his cuts didn't heal completely, but they would most likely be healed in the morning. I touched the line of his jaw and pulled him away from his current drink.

"If you never leave me, I promise I'll never leave you; you'll never have to spend eternity alone." I said.

"I'll take you up on that promise." He smiled. "I'd kiss you but I don't think you want to taste the blood."

I laughed and kissed him on the cheek anyway. This was my new life now. I'm no longer the girl that had it out for any vampire that crossed her path; I was now the girl who was in love with a vampire, who had vampire friends. I've changed, just like Eric changed. I don't want to have the hate and violence in my life anymore. I want peacefulness and happiness, and that's exactly what I had with Eric now.

. . .

_3 days later:_

My heart was racing. I don't think I've ever been this nervous. My foot was tapping on the floor of the car.

"Relax, everything is going to be fine." Eric's smooth voice told me.

"How can you be so calm? We're going on a suicide mission. I can't do this. Can't we hold it off?" I pleaded.

"Nope." Eric smiled. All of his wounds were completely healed and he showed no sign that he almost died. He got out of the car, leaving me to stress out. He walked around and opened the door for me, held out his left arm and escorted me out of the car.

"You can be as chivalrous as you want, but it still doesn't change what I think." I complained. Eric only smiled in return. I knew he loved watching me panic over this. I knew it was extremely entertaining for him.

We walked up to the door and I opened it. "Here we go." I groaned as I stepped inside my house. "Mom? Dad?" I called. My mother popped her head from the dining room and strode over to greet us.

"You must be Eric. It's so nice to finally meet you." She said. Eric politely kissed her on the hand in an old fashioned way and I swear I saw my mom blush. "Well, aren't you just the sweetest thing." She played with the dishcloth in her hand. "You're hands are freezing, it must be cold outside, unless you're one of them…" she pondered for a moment, making my heart stop. She knew Eric was a vampire. Shit was about to hit the fan. I knew it was a bad idea having him meet my parents, again. But to my surprise both Eric and my mom started laughing. Being as confused and nervous as I was, I joined too.

"Better watch out." Eric joked to my mom, making her laugh more.

"I'll go check on dinner. You two make yourselves comfortable." My mom winked at me.

"Mind explaining what just happened?" I put my hands on my hips.

"I called your mom earlier and set us this whole dinner. In the mean time I may or may not have mentioned I hunt vampires."

"So my parents think you are a vampire hunter?"

He nodded his head. "I may have left out the fact that I actually am a vampire…but yes, they think I'm a hunter."

"What about the food? They're going to be suspicious when you don't eat anything." I tried to win this argument, but I had a feeling Eric already had everything planned out. He always did.

"I can eat. I just choose not to. Human food doesn't appeal to me anymore, just like blood doesn't appeal to humans; the only difference is I can eat food and humans can't drink blood." He explained.

Eric and I sat on the couch as we waited for the meal to be served. I clasped my hand over his and I smiled at how perfect they fit together. We were complete opposites, but we were perfect. Me, a vampire hunter, fell in love with a vampire; Eric, a vampire, who had been running from his past, fell in love with a vampire hunter. It's utterly and completely bizarre that we fell for each other. Two opposites. We truly were the Hunter and the Hunted.

**THE END**

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><p><strong>review please :)<strong>


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